believe me, but will be mightily enraged against me.
Whilst she was thus bewailing herself, in comes the grand vizier, and asked her if the fishes were ready? She told him all that had happened, which, we may easily imagine, astonished him mightily; but, without speaking a word to the sultan, he invented an excuse that satisfied him, and sending immediately for the fisherman, bid him bring four more such fish; for a misfortune had befallen the other, that they were not fit to be carried to the sultan. The fisherman, without saying any thing of what the genie had told him, in order to excuse himself from bringing them that very day, told the vizier he had a great way to go for them, but would certainly bring them to-morrow.
Accordingly the fisherman went away by night, and, coming to the pond, threw in his nets betimes next morning, took four such fishes as the former, and brought them to the vizier at the hour appointed. The minister took them himself, carried them to the kitchen, and shutting himself up all alone with the cook-maid, she gutted them, and put them on the fire, as she had done the four others the day before; when they were fried on the one side, and she had turned them upon the other, the kitchen-wall opened, and the same lady came in with the rod in her hand, struck one of the fishes, spoke to it as before, and all four gave her the same answer. But, sir, says Scheherazade, day appears, which obliges me to break off. What I have told you is indeed singular, but if I be alive to-morrow, I will tell you other things which are yet better worth your hearing. Schahriar, conceiving that the sequel must be very curious, resolved to hear her next night.
The Twentieth Night.
Next morning the sultan prevented Dinarzade, and says to Scheherazade, Madam, I pray you make an end of the story of the fisherman; I am impatient to hear it. Upon which the sultaness continued it thus:
Sir, after the four fishes had answered the young lady, she overturned the frying-pan with her rod, and retired into the same place of the wall from whence she came out. The grand vizier being witness to what passed, This is too surprising and extraordinary, says he, to be concealed from the sultan; I will inform him of this prodigy; which he did accordingly, and gave him a faithful account of all that had happened.
The sultan, being much surprised, was mighty impatient to see this himself. To this end, he sent immediately for the fisherman, and says to him, Friend, cannot you bring me four more such fishes? The fisherman replied, If your majesty will be pleased to allow me three days time, I will do it. Having obtained this time, he went to the pond immediately, and, at the first throwing in of his net, he took four such fishes, and brought them presently to the sultan, who was the more rejoiced at it, as he did not expect them so soon, and ordered him other four hundred pieces of gold. As soon as the sultan had the fish, he ordered them to be carried into the closet, with all that was necessary for frying them; and having shut himself up there with his vizier, that minister gutted them, put them in the pan upon the fire, and when they were fried on one side, turned them upon the other; then the wall of the closet opened; but, instead of the young lady, there came out a black, in the habit of a slave, and of a gigantic stature, with a great green baton in his hand. He advanced towards the pan, and touching one of the fishes with his baton, says to it with a terrible voice, "Fish, art thou in thy duty?" At these words, the fishes raised up their heads, and answered, "Yes, yes, we are: if you reckon, we reckon; if you pay your debts, we pay ours; if you fly, we overcome, and are content."
The fish had no sooner finished these words, than the black threw the pan into the middle of the closet, and reduced these fishes to a coal. Having done this, he retired fiercely, and entering again into the hole of the wall, it shut, and appeared just as it was before.
After what I have seen, says the sultan to the vizier, it will not be possible for me to be easy in my mind. These fish, without doubt, signify something extraordinary, in which I have a mind to be satisfied. He sent for the fisherman; and when he came, says to him, Fisherman, the fishes you have brought us make me very uneasy; where did you catch them? Sir, answers he, I fished for them in a pond situate betwixt four hills, beyond the mountain that we see from hence. Know you that pond, says the sultan to the vizier? No, sir, replies the vizier, I never so much as heard of it; and yet it is not sixty years since I hunted beyond that mountain and thereabouts. The sultan asked the fisherman, how far the pond might be from the palace? The fisherman answered, it was not above three hours journey. Upon this assurance, and there being day enough beforehand, the sultan commanded all his court to take horse, and the fisherman served them for a guide. They all ascended the mountain, and at the foot of it they saw, to their great surprise, a vast plain, that nobody had observed till then; and at last they came to the pond, which they found actually to be situate betwixt four hills, as the fisherman had said. The water of it was so transparent, that they observed all the fishes to be like those which the fisherman had brought to the palace.
The sultan staid upon the bank of the pond, and, after beholding the fishes with admiration, he demanded of his emirs and all his courtiers, if it was possible they had never seen this pond, which was within so little a way of the town. They all answered, that they had never so much as heard of it.
Since you all agree, says he, that you never heard of it, and as I am no less astonished than you are, at this novelty I am resolved not to return to my palace till I know how this pond came hither, and why all the fish in it are of four colours. Having spoken thus, he ordered his court to encamp, and immediately his pavilion, and the tents of his household, were planted upon the banks of the pond.
When night came, the sultan retired under his pavilion, and spoke to the vizier by himself thus: Vizier, my mind is very uneasy: this pond transported hither, the black that appeared to us in my closet, and the fishes that we heard speak; all this does so much whet my curiosity, that I cannot resist the impatient desire that I have to be satisfied in it. To this end, I am resolved to withdraw alone from the camp, and I order you to keep my absence secret; stay in my pavilion, and to-morrow morning, when the emirs and courtiers come to attend my levee, send them away, and tell them, that I am somewhat indisposed, and have a mind to be alone: and the following day tell them the same thing, till I return.
The grand vizier said several things to divert the sultan from his design: He represented to him the danger to which he might be exposed, and that all his labour might perhaps be in vain. But it was to no purpose; the sultan was resolved on it, and would go. He put on a suit fit for walking, and took his scimitar; and as soon as he saw that all was quiet in the camp, he goes out alone, and went over one of the hills without much difficulty; he found the descent still more easy, and, when he came to the plain, walked on till the sun rose, and then he saw before him, at a considerable distance, a great building. He rejoiced at the sight, in hopes to be informed there of what he had a mind to know. When he came near, he found it was a magnificent palace, or rather a very strong castle, of fine black polished marble, and covered with fine steel, as smooth as a looking-glass. Being mightily pleased that he had so speedily met with something worthy his curiosity, he stopped before the front of the castle, and considered it with abundance of attention.
He afterwards came up to the gate, which had two leaves, one of them open: though he might have entered when he would, yet he thought it best to knock. He knocked at first softly, "and waited for some time; but seeing nobody, and supposing they had not heard him, he knocked harder the second time; but neither seeing nor hearing anybody, he knocked again and again; but nobody appearing, it surprised him extremely; for he could not think that a castle so well in repair was without inhabitants. If there be nobody in it, says he to himself, I have nothing to fear, and if there be, I have wherewith to defend me.
At last he entered, and when he came within the porch, he cries, Is there nobody here to receive a stranger, who comes in for some refreshment as he passes by? He repeated the same two or three times; but, though he spoke very high, nobody answered.
This silence increased his astonishment; he came into a very spacious court, and looking on every side to see if he could perceive any body, he saw no living thing. But, sir, says Scheherazade, day appears, and I must stop.
Ah! sister, says Dinarzade, you break off at the very best of the story. It is true, answers the sultaness; but, sister, you see I am forced to do so. If my lord the sultan pleases, you may hear the rest to-morrow, Schahriar agreed to this, not so much to please Dinarzade as to satisfy his own curiosity, being mightily impatient to hear what adventure the prince met with in the castle.
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