Thousand & One Nights: Nineteenth Night: Beautiful Maiden

The fisherman presented the fish to the king. The colour of the fish attracted the king. He took one of them, looked at it in amazement, then said to his vizier, "Take them to the cook." The vizier took them to the girl, and said to her, "Girl, I save my tears for the time of trial "
Then the king ordered the vizier to give four hundred dirhams to the fisherman. The vizier gave the money to the fisherman, and he went away, running, stumbled, and then getting up, thought he was in a dream. 

The girl scaled the fish, cleaned them, and cut them into pieces. Placed the fish in the frying pan. When the pieces were done on one side, she turned them over, but no sooner had she  done this than the kitchen-wall split open and there emerged a beautiful maiden. She wore a short-sleeved silk shirt in Egyptian style, embroidered all round with lace and gold spangles. She had dangling ear rings, bracelets, and she held a bamboo wand. She thrust the wand into the frying pan and said, "O fish, O fish, have you kept the pledge?" The cook fainted at this strange sight.The maiden repeated what she said, and the fish raised their heads from the frying pan and replied, "Yes, yes, if you return, we shall return. If you keep your vow we shall keep ours; and if you forsake us we shall be even."  The maiden overturned the frying pan and disappeared. The kitchen wall closed behind her.

The cook came to herself, and found all the fish charred; she felt sorry for herself and afraid of the king, saying to herself, "He broke his lance on his very first raid. The vizier suddenly stood before her. "Give me the fish, we have set the platter for the king. The girl began to weep and told what she had seen. The vizier was astonished. "This is very strange," he said. He sent an officer after the fisherman. After a while he returned with the fisherman.

The vizier shouted at the fisherman, "Bring us at once four more fish like 
the ones you brought us before, for we have had an accident with them."
When he followed with threats, the fisherman went home, took his fishing gear, went outside the city, climbed the mountain, and descended to the wilderness on the other side. When he came to the lake, he cast the net, and when he pulled up, he found four fish inside. He brought them back to the vizier.

"Fry them in my presence, so that I can see what happens," said the vizier. The girl prepared it, placed the frying pan over the fire, and threw them in. When the fish were done, the wall split open, the maiden appeared, thrust her wand into the frying pan and said, "O fish, have you kept the pledge?" The fish raised their heads and said, "If you return, we shall return; if you keep your vow, we shall keep ours; and if you forsake us, we shall be even."

The Night ended.


 

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