2-5 Story
of the Fisherman:
The Young King of the Black Isles
The
young man said - "You should know that my father Mahamood was a king
of this country. This country was called Black Isles. It was surrounded by
four little mountains and his capital was where now the great lake is. At
the age of 66 my father died and I was crowned the King of this country. I
married my cousin whom I loved dearly and I thought that she also loved
me.
One
afternoon when I was half asleep and the two maids were fanning me, I
heard one say _ "What a pity that our queen doesn't love the King any
more. I think she is planning to kill him for she is an enchantress."
I soon found out that they were right. Once I wounded a favorite slave of
hers for a great crime, she begged me to build a palace in the garden and
wept there for two years. Although he could not move or speak but by
enchantment she kept him alive. When I asked her to grieve for him, she
got very angry at me, and by some magic words she turned my half body in
stone and put me in this condition as you are seeing now.
Then
this wicked woman changed the capital into the lakes and plain dessert you
saw. She changed the people of our country into fish and put them in that
lake. Their colors belong to their different races. And this is not all,
she comes daily here and beats me with a whip of buffalo hide." After
telling his story, the young man burst into tears and the Sultaan got much
moved. He asked him - "Where is that wicked woman and her that slave
whom she has kept alive?"
The
young man said - "Where does she live I do not know, but she goes
daily to him to talk to him after she has beaten me up." So the
Sultaan thought of a plan to be carried out next day. Next day before
sunrise the Sultaan went to the palace which stood in the garden, found
the Black Man, killed him with his sword, and threw his body in a well. He
lay down in the place of that Black Man and covered himself with his
cloth. He waited for the queen.
The
queen first went to the young man, beat him with the whip 100 times and
came to the Black Man and said - "Are you better today, my dear?
Please speak to me once." Sultaan copied the language of the
Ethiopians and spoke - "How can I be better, when I cannot sleep
because of the cries of your husband?" The queen was very happy to
hear his voice again, she said - "Do you want me to turn him into the
original shape?" "Yes, Do it soon and free him so that I do not
hear his moans." She immediately went to the palace, took a cup of
water, boiled it with some magical words and threw it on the young man.
The young man immediately turned into the human being. She said to him -
"Now go from here and never come back lest I kill you." The
young man ran away from there.
Then
that witch came to her palace again and said to the Black Man - "What
you have said I have done that." The Black Man said - "It is not
enough for me. All the people you turned into fish cry at midnight, change
them also into their proper shapes." The witch ran away to the lake,
said some magical words over the lake and all the fish became people of
the country. And once more the country of the Black Isles was inhabited.
The
queen again went to her palace and asked the Black Man - "Are you
happy now?" "Yes, But come near to me." She came nearer to
him, and as she approached him, the Sultaan cut her neck with his sword.
The Sultaan went to the young man and said to him - "Rejoice now,
your enemy is dead." The young man thanked him a lot. The Sultaan
said - "Now I will go to my capital, which is very near to
yours." The young man smiled - "No Sir, It is not so near. Do
you know It is one year journey from here now." The Sultaan said -
"It will give me much pleasure if you accompany with me. I have no
child, I will make you my own heir.
Both
set out for their journey with lots gifts from the King of the Black
Isles. As they reached their capital, the Sultaan announced the young man
as his heir. The fisherman was given lots of money. He was very happy
now."
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