第13章 THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT(11)

Till whencontented with his nighthe carries home a fish，Whose throat the hand of Death hath slit with trident pitiless，Comes one who buys his prey of himone who has passed the night，Safe from the coldin all delight of peace and blessedness.

Praise be to God who gives to this and cloth to that deny！Some fishand others eat the fish caught with such toil and stress.

Then he said'Courage！I shall have better luck next time，please God！'And repeated the following verses：

If misfortune assail theeclothe thyself thereagainst With patiencethe part of the noble： 'twere wiselier done.

Complain not to men： that were indeed to complainTo those that have no mercyof the Merciful One.

So sayinghe threw out the dead ass and wrung the net and spread it out. Then he went down into the sea and cast againsaying，'In the name of God！'and waited till the net had settled down in the waterwhen he pulled the cords and finding it was heavy and resisted more than beforethought it was full of fish. So he made it fast to the shore and stripped and dived into the water round the nettill he got it free. Then he hauled at it till he brought it ashorebut found in it nothing but a great jar full of sand and mud. When he saw thishe groaned aloud and repeated the following verses：

Anger of Fatehave pity and forbearOr at the least hold back thy hand and spare！

I sally forth to seek my daily bread And find my living vanished into air.

How many a fool's exalted to the starsWhilst sages hidden in the mire must fare！

Then he threw out the jar and wrung out and cleansed his net：

after which he asked pardon of God the Most High and returning to the sea a third timecast the net. He waited till it had settled downthen pulled it up and found in it potsherds and bones and broken bottles： whereat he was exceeding wroth and wept and recited the following verses：

Fortune's with God： thou mayst not win to bind or set it free：

Nor letter-lore nor any skill can bring good hap to thee.

Fortuneindeedand benefits by Fate are lotted out： One country's blest with fertile fieldswhilst others sterile be.

The shifts of evil chance cast down full many a man of worth And thosethat merit notuplift to be of high degree.

So come to meO Death！for life is worthless verily；When falcons humbled to the dust and geese on high we see.

'Tis little wonder if thou find the noble-minded poorWhat while the loser by main force usurps his sovranty.

One bird will traverse all the earth and fly from East to West：

Another hath his every wish although no step stir he.

Then he lifted his eyes to heaven and said'O my GodThou knowest that I cast my net but four times a day；and now I have cast it three times and have taken nothing. Grant me thenO my Godmy daily bread this time！'So he said'In the name of God！'

and cast his net and waited till it had settled down in the waterthen pulled itbut could not bring it upfor it was caught in the bottom Whereupon'There is no power and no virtue but in God！'said he and repeated the following verses：

Away with the worldif it be like thisaway！My part in it's nought but misery and dismay！

Though the life of a man in the morning be sereneHe must drink of the cup of woe ere ended day.

And yet if one asked'Who's the happiest man alive？'The people would point to me and 'He'would say.

Then he stripped and dived down to the net and strove with it till he brought it to shorewhere he opened it and found in it a brazen vesselfull and stoppered with leadon which was impressed the seal of our lord Solomonson of David （on whom be peace！）. When he saw thishe was glad and said'I will sell this in the copper marketfor it is worth half a score diners.'

Then he shook it and found it heavy and said to himself'I wonder what is inside！I will open it and see what is in it，before I sell it.'So he took out a knife and worked at the leaden sealtill he extracted it from the vessel and laid it aside. Then he turned the vase mouth downward and shook itto turn out its contents；but nothing came outand he wondered greatly and laid it on the ground. Presentlythere issued from it a smokewhich rose up towards the sky and passed over the face of the earth；then gathered itself together and condensed and quivered and became an Afritwhose head was in the clouds and his feet in the dust. His head was like a domehis hands like pitchforkshis legs like mastshis mouth like a cavern，his teeth like rockshis nostrils like trumpetshis eyes like lampsand he was stern and lowering of aspect. When the fisherman saw the Afrithe trembled in every limb；his teeth chattered and his spittle dried up and he knew not what to do.