--- title: "The Fisherman and the Genie" story_id: "8c2b8df6-9295-421a-a845-ab2fdd709704" text_id: "5f892565-3072-4a52-bc4f-6a4fc5a54044" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 5 part_count: 5 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?part=5" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Fisherman and the Genie > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie) Version: Modernized ## The Story of the Young King of the Black Isles You must know, Your Majesty, that my father was Mahmoud, king of this country, the Black Isles. They take their name from the four little mountains, which were once islands. Our capital once stood where the great lake now lies. My story will tell you how these changes came about. My father died when he was sixty-six, and I became king after him. I married my cousin, whom I loved tenderly, and I thought she loved me too. But one afternoon, when I was half asleep, and was being fanned by two of her maids, I heard one say to the other, "What a pity it is that our mistress no longer loves our master! I believe she would like to kill him if she could, for she is an enchantress." By watching, I soon found they were right. When I dealt a mortal wound to one of her favourite slaves for a serious crime, she begged permission to build a palace in the garden. There she wept and mourned him for two years. At last I begged her to stop grieving for him. He could not speak or move, but her enchantments just kept him alive. She turned on me in a rage and spoke some magic words over me. Instantly, I became as you see me now: half man and half marble. Then this wicked enchantress changed the capital, which was a thriving city full of people, into the lake and desert plain you saw. The fish of four colours which are in it are the different peoples who lived in the town; the four hills are the four islands which give the name to my kingdom. The enchantress told me all this to add to my suffering. And this is not all. Every day she comes and beats me with a whip of buffalo hide. When the young king had finished his sad story he burst once more into tears, and the Sultan was much moved. "Tell me," he cried, "where is this wicked woman, and where is the wretched man she loves, whom she just manages to keep alive?" "I do not know where she lives," answered the unhappy prince, "but she goes every day at sunrise to see if the slave can yet speak to her, after she has beaten me." "Unfortunate king," said the Sultan, "I will do what I can to avenge you." He discussed with the young king how best to do this, and they agreed to carry out their plan the next day. The Sultan then rested, and the young king surrendered to happy hopes of being freed. The next day the Sultan got up and went to the palace in the garden where the black slave was. He drew his sword and destroyed the little life that remained in him, and then threw the body down a well. He then lay down on the couch where the slave had been, and waited for the enchantress. She went first to the young king, whom she beat with a hundred blows. Then she came to the room where she thought her wounded slave was, but where the Sultan really lay. She came near his couch and said, "Are you better today, my dear slave? Say just one word to me." "How can I be better," answered the Sultan, imitating the language of the Ethiopians, "when I can never sleep for the cries and groans of your husband?" "What joy to hear you speak!" answered the queen. "Do you wish him to regain his proper shape?" "Yes," said the Sultan; "hurry and set him free, so that I may no longer hear his cries." The queen went out at once and took a cup of water. She spoke words over it that made it boil as though it were on the fire. Then she threw it over the prince, who at once regained his own form. He was filled with joy, but the enchantress said, "Hurry away from this place and never come back, or I will kill you." So he hid himself to see the end of the Sultan's plan. The enchantress went back to the Palace of Tears and said, "Now I have done what you wished." "What you have done," said the Sultan, "is not enough to cure me. Every day at midnight all the people whom you have changed into fish lift their heads out of the lake and cry for vengeance. Go quickly, and restore them to their own forms." The enchantress hurried away and said some words over the lake. The fish then became men, women, and children, and the houses and shops were once more filled. The Sultan’s attendants, who had camped by the lake, were greatly astonished to see themselves in the middle of a large and beautiful town. As soon as she had lifted the spell over the city the queen went back to the palace. "Are you quite well now?" she said. "Come near," said the Sultan. "Nearer still." She obeyed. Then he sprang up, and with one blow of his sword he killed her. Then he went and found the prince. "Rejoice," he said, "your cruel enemy is dead." The prince thanked him again and again. "And now," said the Sultan, "I will go back to my capital, which I am glad to find is so near yours." "So near mine!" said the King of the Black Isles. "Do you know it is a whole year's journey from here? You came here in a few hours because it was enchanted. But I will accompany you on your journey." "It will give me great pleasure if you accompany me," said the Sultan, "and as I have no children, I will make you my heir." The Sultan and the prince set out together, the Sultan laden with rich presents from the King of the Black Isles. The day after he reached his capital the Sultan assembled his court and told them everything that had happened to him and how he intended to adopt the young king as his heir. Then he gave each man presents in proportion to his rank. As for the fisherman, since he had set in motion the rescue of the young prince, the Sultan gave him a great deal of money. This made him and his family happy for the rest of their days. ## Modernization notes - cut her in two → killed her: The detail of the body being cut in two is omitted to make the passage less shocking for children. The sword blow and death remain. ## Parts - [1](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown) - [2](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown&part=2) — The Story of the Greek King and the Physician Douban - [3](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown&part=3) — The Story of the Husband and the Parrot - [4](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown&part=4) — The Story of the Vizir Who Was Punished - [5](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown&part=5) — The Story of the Young King of the Black Isles ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text The Arabian Nights Entertainments, 1898, Longmans, Green and Co. - editor: Andrew Lang ## Illustration [Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/9419ad20-46bd-4d54-a7fd-1e7e32483892) — Stories from the Arabian Nights, 1907, Hodder & Stoughton, London ## Reading music Mijana Bassam Jalgha (oud) Hassane Slaibi (flute) Remix ⟷ Culture (production) [CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) ## Quiz ### What does a fish such as the opah absorb from water to breathe? - Sand - Smoke - Oxygen (Correct answer) - Stars Its gills absorb oxygen from the water. [NOAA — Are all fish cold-blooded?](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/cold-blooded.html) ### Do fish have periods of rest? - Yes (Correct answer) - Only in fairy tales - Never - Only out of water Many fish slow their activity during resting periods. [NOAA — Do fish sleep?](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/fish-sleep.html) ### What is the chemical symbol for copper? - Co - Cu (Correct answer) - Ca - Cr Copper’s chemical symbol is Cu. [Royal Society of Chemistry — Copper](https://periodic-table.rsc.org/element/29/copper) ### What colour is clean copper? - Blue - Green - White - Reddish gold (Correct answer) The metal is reddish gold; its surface can change later. [Royal Society of Chemistry — Copper](https://periodic-table.rsc.org/element/29/copper) ### Which metals make up brass? - Iron and silver - Gold and aluminium - Copper and zinc (Correct answer) - Lead and tin Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. [Royal Society of Chemistry — Zinc](https://periodic-table.rsc.org/element/30/zinc) ## Other languages - [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown) - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-fisherman-and-the-genie?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)