There was once an old fisherman who was down on his luck.
The lake from which he fished used to be full of many different kinds of fish
but now it was relatively empty. He had a large family but was no longer able
to provide for them. The old fisherman never gave up though because he had more
faith than a hundred men put together. His only rule when fishing was that he
would not throw his net more than four times in a single. He did this to limit
how much he could possibly catch and prevent the fish populations from
dwindling even further.
One morning the old man rowed out onto the water just before
sunrise as he did every day. On his first haul he felt a tremendous weight and
grew excited. When he finally pulled it in it was just a dead donkey someone
had dumped. Begrudgingly he tossed his net back into the water. Again he felt a
heavy weight but as he pulled it back in he discovered it was full of junk.
Once again he threw the net back into the water. He prayed that he would just once be blessed
with a bountiful catch so he could provide for his family. When pulling in his
net for a third time there was another great weight, but it was just stones and
shells. He threw the net in one last time with high hopes. When he pulled his
net for the fourth time he had caught a tremendous golden pot that had been
sealed shut. It was very heavy so he knew there must be something inside of
great value.
He opened the great pot and out burst a tremendous mass of
black smoke. The fisherman terrified of what he had just unleashed hid from the
beast that had formed.
“Come forward little human,” the smoke beast bellowed. “I
have been trapped in that pot for far too long. So long in fact that I once
vowed to make the man who set me free the wealthiest in all the lands. This was
over a century ago so I made a new vow to kill the man who set me free for
waiting so long to do so. Since I have been given my freedom I will allow to
choose the manner in which you wish to die.”
The fisherman pleaded for mercy. He asked the great beast to
allow him to live since he himself was now free.
“I made a vow human. Hurry up and make your choice so that I
may be on my way.”
Trying to buy some time the old fisherman questioned the
smoke beast on how he came to be entrapped within the pot. Surely some
enchantment must have been placed upon him to allow for such a mighty beast to
fit within the pot.
“Foolish human. I am nothing yet I am everything,” he said
as he slid within the pot to show him that he could fit.
The fisherman trapped the beast by shutting the lid once
again.
“Release me!” he bellowed. “Let me free and I shall let you
live and prosper.”
“How can I trust you when just a moment ago you were decided
upon ending my life?” the fisherman questioned. “You are truly wicked in
wanting to kill the man who gave you freedom. I shall take you to the Sultan
and let him decide what to do with you.”
The old man rowed back to shore and carried the golden pot
to the Sultan. He was paid handsomely for turning over the demon to his ruler.
The smoke beast was used in the building of a new church so that concrete could
entrap the pot within the walls so he may never escape again. The fisherman
went home to his family was able to finally provide them with a wonderful life.
Author’s Note: This
original piece is called The Story of the Fisherman and was within the Arabian
Nights unit. I changed nothing from the original other than the ending. Within this
unit every story is a story within the previous one. If I didn’t change the
ending it would have led into a story, which led into another, and so on. In
the original the fisherman does let the beast, called a genius, loose once
again and is then taken to a lake full of wonderful fish to present to the
Sultan. This ultimately leads to the discovery of an enchanted city and the
fisherman being provided with a great deal of wealth for his help in first
uncovering the city. A great deal of events transpire before he receives his
reward so I just cut it down and prevented the beast from being free.
Bibliography: "The Story of the Fisherman" by Andrew Lang, from The Arabian Night's Entertainments (1898). Web Source: Myth and Folklore Untextbook
I enjoyed your writing here - it was a nice story to ready and the way you told it was really smooth. The way you described the smoke creature reminded me of how the demons from "Supernatural" work - they take these big smoke forms, flying in to humans' mouths in order to possess them. And a part of me was waiting for this creature to fly into the fisherman's mouth!
ReplyDeleteHey Kristin, I enjoyed reading your story. I really like how the fisherman ends up releasing the genius but then trapping him again after being threaten. The way you ended the story was really clever as well with the addition of a church in order for the demon to be trapped there forever.
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