THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN plus 4 more tales from the Arabian Nights

Book excerpt: ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 231 ÿ In this 231st issue of the Baba Indaba?s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the Arabian Nights tale of ?The Story of the Fisherman? ÿPlus four more Tales from the Arabian Nights. Also included in this bumper edition are ?the story of king yoon n and the sage doob n?, ?the story of the husband and the parrot?, ?the story of the envious wezeer and the prince and the ghooleh? and lastly, ?the story of the young king of the black islands? ÿ In The Story of the Fisherman Baba tells how a poor fisherman unexpectedly hauls in the carcass of an ass in his nets. Even though his catch was worthless he gave praise to God for his ability to work and catch fish. He brought the carcass ashore and laid it out to dry thinking the skin may be of value and returned to his fishing. On the second cast of his nets he found them to be even heavier than the first. Still he dragged them ashore. On examining the nets he found in it only a large jar, full of sand and mud. On seeing this, his ÿheart was troubled as he wondered what he and his family were to eat that night. He put the jar aside and a third time, cast the net, and waited till it had sunk and was motionless: he then drew it out, and found in it a quantity of broken jars and pots. Upon seeing this, he raised his head towards heaven, and said, O God, Thou knowest that I cast not my net more than four times; and I have now cast it three times! Then?exclaiming, In the name of God!?he cast the net again into the sea, and waited till it was still; when he attempted to draw it up, but could not, for it clung to the bottom. ÿ He worked away at the nets and found in it a bottle of brass, filled with something, and having its mouth closed with a stopper of lead, bearing the impression of the seal of our lord Suleym n. At the sight of this, the fisherman was rejoiced, and said, This I will sell in the copper-market; for it is worth ten pieces of gold. He then shook it, and found it to be heavy, and said, I must open it, and see what is in it, and store it in my bag; and then I will sell the bottle in the coppermarket. So he took out a knife, and picked at the lead until he extracted it from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground, and shook it, that its contents might pour out; but there came forth from it nothing but smoke, which ascended towards the sky, and spread over the face of the earth; at which he wondered excessively. ÿ After a little while, the smoke collected together, and was condensed, and then became agitated, and was converted into an 'Efreet (a Genie), whose head was in the clouds, while his feet rested upon the ground: his head was like a dome: his hands were like winnowing forks; and his legs, like masts: his mouth resembled a cavern: his teeth were like stones; his nostrils, like trumpets; and his eyes, like lamps. ÿ And so begins the story of the fisherman and the genie which takes many twists and turns along the way with altogether surprising results. And just what are they you ask? And what of the other stories you ask? Well, you?ll just have to download and read the full story to find out what they?re about and how they relate to The Story of the Fisherman . ÿ 33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. ÿ INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES ÿ Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps. ÿ Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories". ÿ