Story: The Sultan, The Fisherman, and the Genie

("Foggy Lake" by Vicious)

A few centuries ago, a fisherman came across an abandoned lamp in a forest. There was some dust on the lamp so the fisherman rubbed the lamp with his forearm. All of a sudden, a genie appeared.         

            “Alas! You have freed me!” Exclaimed the genie.

            “Wait, are you a genie?” asked the fisherman. The genie nodded and smiled.

            “And because you have freed me, I am going to reward you,” the genie replied. He snapped his fingers and took the fisherman to a lake in the middle of the four hills, past the mountains. The genie explained that the fisherman could fish in the lake in order to capture the most incredible fish. However, the fisherman could only fish in the lake ONCE a day, otherwise he would be punished. With the genie’s instructions, the fisherman caught a net full of huge, beautiful fish.

            “Sell the fish to the sultan and you will never grow poor,” the genie said.

            The fisherman did as he was told. He went to the palace to sell the fish to the sultan, who was amazed by the fish.

            “Take me to the lake that produced these incredible fish,” the sultan ordered.

            The fisherman wanted more money, so he took the sultan past the mountain to the lake in the middle of the four hills.

            When they had arrived, a thick layer of fog was covering the lake. All of a sudden, the fog began to clear and they spotted a huge palace made out of dark black marble appeared just beyond the lake. There was an iron gate in front of the palace slightly ajar, so the fisherman and the sultan snuck through the small opening.

            Once they were inside, they walked into a huge room that had a long ruby velvet carpet, gold curtains, and tapestries all over the walls. Out of nowhere, there was a loud scream. The sultan and the fisherman hid behind a black marble column, hoping to hide from any danger. Then there was absolute silence.

            The two figured it was safe to explore the mysterious palace a little more. They began to walk down one of the long hallways and found a young man with the lower half of his body made out of the same black marble that the palace was.

            “What happened to you?” asked the fisherman.

            “I was selfish and I wanted to get more fish from the lake, so I fished twice in one day. The genie found out, and he turned me into stone to keep me as his prisoner forever!” said the young man.

            Terrified, the sultan and the fisherman sprinted out of the palace. They kept running until they were as far away from the palace and the lake as possible. The fisherman did not want to risk turning into marble, so he vowed to never come near the lake ever again. Thus, he enjoyed the riches that he had already gotten from the magnificent fish, and still never grew poor.

Author's Note: In the original story, there was a genie who was freed by the fisherman. The genie rewarded the fisherman by letting him fish in the lake and sell the fish to the sultan. My twist on the story was that the palace belonged to the genie and that the young boy was a prisoner for fishing in the lake twice in one day. I also had the sultan and the fisherman chicken out and never come near the lake again.

Bibliography: "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" by Andrew Lang; link to the reading online