its strings, and found it to be heavy. He pulled, but could not draw it up, so he took the end of the cord, and drove a stake into the shore, and tied the cord to it. He then stripped himself and dived round the net, and continued to pull until he drew it out. There- 5 upon he rejoiced, and put on his clothes; but when he came to examine the net, he found in it the carcass of an ass. At the sight of this he mourned, and exclaimed, 'This is a strange piece of fortune!'

"He then freed his net of the dead ass, and wrung 10 it out; after which he spread it, and descended into the sea, and cast it again, and waited till it had sunk and was still, when he pulled it, and found it more heavy and difficult to raise than on the former occasion. He therefore concluded that it was full of fish; sO 15 he tied it, and stripped, and plunged, and dived, and pulled until he raised it, and drew it up upon the shore; when he found in it only a large jar, full of sand and mud. On seeing this, he was troubled in his heart. But he threw aside the jar, and wrung out and cleansed 20 his net; and, begging the forgiveness of Allah for his impatience, returned to the sea for the third time, and threw 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 this, he raised his head towards heaven, and said, 'O Allah, thou knowest that I cast not my net

25

more than four times; and I have now cast it three times!' Then he cast the net again into the sea, and waited until it was still, when he attempted to draw it up, but could not, for it clung to the bottom. And he 5 stripped himself again, and dived round the net, and pulled it until he raised it upon the shore. Then he opened it, 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 10 of Solomon.

So he took out

"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 15 what is in it, and store it in my bag; and then I will sell the bottle in the copper market.' a knife, and picked at the lead until he had extracted it from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground, and shook it, that its contents might pour 20 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 exceedingly. And after a little while, the smoke collected together, and became an Afreet, whose head was in the clouds, 25 while his feet rested upon the ground. His head was like a dome; his legs, like masts; his mouth resembled a cavern; his teeth were like stones; his nostrils, like

trumpets; his eyes, like lamps; and he had disheveled and dust-colored hair.

"When the fisherman beheld this Afreet, he was overcome with fear. The Afreet, as soon as he perceived him, exclaimed

5

And here Shahrazad saw that the dawn was break

ing and she was silent; and her sister said to her, “What a charming and delightful story!" "This is nothing," replied Shahrazad, "to what I will tell thee to-morrow night, if the king let me live." And the 10

king said to himself, "By Allah, I will not kill her until I hear the rest of the story."

And when the second night came, the younger sister said unto Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish thy story of 5 the fisherman and the Afreet." "With all my heart,' answered she, "if the king gives his permission.” "Say on," commanded the king.

And Shahrazad said: "O great king and wise ruler, when the Afreet perceived the fisherman, he exclaimed, 10 'There is no god but Allah and Solomon is his prophet.' 'O Afreet,' said the fisherman, 'dost thou say Solomon is the prophet of Allah? Solomon hath been dead a thousand and eight hundred years; and we are now in the end of time. What is thy history, and what is thy 15 tale, and what was the cause of thy entering this bottle?'

"When the Afreet heard the words of the fisherman, he said, 'Thou shalt instantly be put to a most cruel death.' 'Wherefore wouldst thou kill me,' exclaimed the fisherman, 'when I have liberated thee from the 20 bottle, and rescued thee from the bottom of the sea, and brought thee up upon the dry land?' The Afreet answered, 'Choose what kind of death thou wilt die, and in what manner thou shalt be killed.' 'What is my offense,' said the fisherman, 'that this should be 25 my reward from thee?' The Afreet replied, 'Hear my story, O fisherman.' 'Tell it, then,' said the fisher

man, 'and be short in thy words.'

"Know then,' said the Afreet, 'that I rebelled against Solomon, the son of David, and he sent to me his officer, who came upon me forcibly and took me to him in bonds, and placed me before him. And when Solomon saw me, he exhorted me to embrace the faith, 5 and to submit to his authority; but I refused. Upon this he called for this bottle and confined me in it, and closed it upon me with the leaden stopper, which he stamped with the name of Allah: he then gave orders to have me carried away and thrown into the 10 midst of the sea.

"There I remained a hundred years; and I said in my heart, "Whosoever shall liberate me, I will enrich him forever." But the hundred years passed over me, and no one liberated me. And I entered upon 15 another hundred years; and I said, "Whosoever shall liberate me, I will open to him the treasures of the earth," but no one did so. And four hundred years passed over me; and I said, "Whosoever shall liberate me, I will perform for him three wishes," 20 but still no one liberated me. I then fell into a violent rage, and said within myself, "Whosoever shall liberate me now, I will kill him; and only suffer him to choose in what manner he will die." And, lo! now thou hast liberated me, and I have given thee thy choice of the 25 manner in which thou wilt die.'

"When the fisherman had heard the story of the