Thousand & One Nights: Twentieth Night: The Mystery of Colourful Fish

The vizier witnessed how the maiden with her wand came out of the wall; overturned frying pan, disappeared.
"I can no longer hide this from the king," said the vizier.

The king was exceedingly amazed. He said, "I wish to see it with my own eyes." He sent for the fisherman, who came after a little while. The king said, "I want you to bring more fish like the ones you brought here. Hurry!" He assigned three officers to guard the fisherman. They disappeared. After a while they returned. And the fisherman brought four fish: red, white, blue and yellow. The king commanded: "Give him four hundred dirhams." The fisherman received the money and went away.
The king said to the vizier, "Fry the fish in my presence." The servant girl came with frying pan, Kindled the fire, put the frying pan on the fire. Cut and cleaned fish were put in the boiling oil in the frying pan.

When they were done, the wall was split open, and instead of the beautiful maiden, stood a black slave like a towering mountain, or a giant descendant of lost tribe. He was as tall as a reed, as wide as a stone bench, and he held a green palm leaf. Then in an unpleasant language said "O fish, have you kept the pledge?
The fish raised their head from the frying pan and said, "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 black slave overturned the frying pan, and the fish turned into charcoal. The black slave departed, and the wall closed behind him.

"I cannot sleep over this affair. No doubt, there is a mystery behind the fish." The king said. He bade the fisherman to be brought again.

The fisherman arrived. The king asked, "Where do you catch these fish?"
The fisherman: "My lord I catch them in a lake, that lies among four hills, on the other side of the mountain." 
The king turned to his vizier and asked, "Do you know this lake?"

Vizier: "No, by God, your Majesty. Sixty years I have hunted, travelled and roamed far and wide, some times for a day or two, sometimes a month or two, but I have never seen or known that such a lake existed.

The king (to the fisherman): "How far is the lake from here?"

Fisherman: "King of the age, it is one hour from here."

The king was astonished and ordered his soldiers to be ready. The king and his troops followed the fisherman. They rode to the outside of the city, climbed the mountain, descended the mountain. A vast wilderness that they see for the first time. A lake surrounded by hills. In the clear water they could see fish in four colours: red, white, blue and yellow. The king stood marvelling, turned to his team and asked, "Have any of you ever seen this before?"
"Never." Together, they replied.
"There is a mystery behind this," said the king. "I shall not return until I find out the mystery," concluded the King. He ordered his men to halt and pitch the tents. He dismounted.

It was getting dark. The king summoned the vizier, and said, "l shall go by myself to seek the mystery behind the lake and its fish. You sit by the entrance of my tend and tell them that I am indisposed and my order is not to let anyone inside the tent. Do not let anything about my departure. Wait three days for me."  The vizier was obliged to obey.

The king left his tent, in the night. He climbed one of the four hills, and journeyed on throughout the night. In the morning, when the sun was up he could saw a dark mass in the distance. He headed towards it. It seemed a palace built under lucky star, with black stones overlaid with iron plates. One of its doors was open, and the other shut.

The king knocked gently at the door and waited patiently. There was no reply.  He knocked again, more loudly than before. There was no reply. He knocked a third time, repeatedly. There was no response. The king thought it was deserted. Summoning his courage he entered the hallway, and shouted, "O inmates! Here is a stranger. A hungry wayfarer.  Have you any food? Our Lord will require you. There was no response. He shouted again, and a third time. Feeling bold and determined, he advanced from the hallway into the centre of the palace, and looked out. There was no one.

The End of the Night 



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