漁夫和妖怪 a fisherman and a genie

Once upon a time there was an old fisherman. He went fishing very early every morning, but he never cast his net more than four times a day.

One morning, he went out early to the sea. He cast his net for the first time, and drew in the body of an animal. He cast it a second time, and drew in an old basket full of sand. He cast it a third time, and drew in a lot of stones. It seemed he would have nothing to take home that morning.

Day had now broken, and he cast his net for last time. After some time, he began to draw the net in. He found it was very heavy. But there were not any fish in it. Instead he found a jar with a lid. He shook the jar, but could hear nothing. So he took off the lid and looked inside. He could see nothing. After a while a light smoke came slowly out of the jar. Then little by little, the smoke grew heavier and thicker till finally it turned into a terrible Genie!

"Get down on your knees," said the Genie, "for I'm going to kill you."

"Why? Didn't I set you free from the jar?"

"That's why I'm going to kill you, but I'll let you choose how you're going to die."

"But why?"

"Listen, and I will tell you my story."

"I was one of the spirits in heaven. But I did not want to obey Solomon's orders. So one day, he put me in this jar and threw it into the sea.

"During the first hundred years of my stay in the sea, I made a promise that if anyone set me free I would make him very rich. But no one came. During the second hundred years, I promised that if anyone set me free I would show him all the treasures in the world. But still no one came. During the third hundred years, I promised that if anyone came to set me free, I would make him king over the earth.

"Still no one came. Then I became very angry, and decided that if anyone should set me free I would kill him at once. Now you have come and set me free. So you must die, but I will let you say how you want to die."

The fisherman was not frightened. He said: "Since I must die, I must. But before I die, answer me one question."

"All right, but be quick."

"Were you really in the jar? You are so big and the jar is so small that it could hardly hold one of your feet."

"Of course I was in the jar. Don't you believe me?"

"No, and I won't until I've seen you in the jar with my own eyes."

When he heard this, the Genie changed into smoke. Slowly the smoke went back into the jar. When all of it was in the jar, the fisherman quickly put the lid on and threw it back into the sea.

從前有一個漁夫，家里很窮。他每天早上到海邊去捕魚，但是他自己立下一條規(guī)矩，每天至多撒四次網(wǎng)。

有一天早上，撒了三次網(wǎng)，什么都沒撈著，他很不高興。第四次把網(wǎng)拉攏來的時候，他覺得太重了，簡直拉不動。他就脫了衣服跳下水去，把網(wǎng)拖上岸來。打開網(wǎng)一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)網(wǎng)里有一個膽形的黃銅瓶，瓶口用錫封著，錫上蓋著所羅門的印。

漁夫一見，笑逐顏開，說道：“我把這瓶子帶到市上去，可以賣它十塊金幣。”他抱著銅瓶搖了一搖，覺得很重，里面似乎塞滿了東西。他自言自語地說：“這個瓶里到底裝的什么東西?我要打開來看個清楚，再拿去賣。”他就從腰帶上拔出小刀，撬去瓶口上的錫封，然后搖搖瓶子，想把里面的東西倒出來，但是什么東西也沒有。他覺得非常奇怪。

隔一會兒，瓶里冒出一股青煙，飄飄蕩蕩地升到空中，繼而彌漫在大地上，逐漸凝成一團，最后變成個巨大的魔鬼，披頭散發(fā)，高高地聳立在漁夫面前。魔鬼頭像堡壘，手像鐵叉，腿像桅桿，口像山洞，牙齒像白石塊，鼻孔像喇叭，眼睛像燈籠，樣子非常兇惡。

漁夫一看見這可怕的魔鬼，呆呆的不知如何應(yīng)付。一會兒，他聽見魔鬼叫道：“所羅門啊，別殺我，以后我不敢再違背您的命令了!”

“魔鬼!”漁夫說道，“所羅門已經(jīng)死了一千八百年了。你是怎麼鉆到這個瓶子里的呢?”

魔鬼說：“漁夫啊，準備死吧!你選擇怎樣死吧，我立刻就要把你殺掉!”

“我犯了什么罪?”漁夫問道，“我把你從海里撈上來，又把你從膽瓶里放出來，救了你的命，你為什么要殺我?”

魔鬼答道：“你聽一聽我的故事就明白了。”

“說吧，”漁夫說，“簡單些。”

“你要知道，”魔鬼說，“我是個無惡不作的兇神，曾經(jīng)跟所羅門作對，他派人把我捉去，裝在這個膽瓶里，用錫封嚴了，又蓋上印，投到海里。我在海里呆著，在第一個世紀里，我常常想：‘誰要是在這個世紀里解救我，我一定報答他，使他終身享受榮華富貴。’一百年過去了，可是沒有人來解救我。第二個世紀開始的時候，我說：‘誰要是在這個世紀里解救我，我一定報答他，把全世界的寶庫都指點給他。’可是沒有人來解救我。第三個世紀開始的時候，我說：‘誰要是在這個世紀里解救我，我一定報答他，滿足他的三種愿望。’可是整整過了四百年，始終沒有人來解救我。于是我非常生氣，我說：‘從今以后，誰要是來解救我，我一定要殺死他，不過準許他選擇怎樣死。’漁夫，現(xiàn)在你解救了我，所以我叫你選擇你的死法。”

漁夫叫道：“好倒霉啊，碰上我來解救你!是我救了你的命啊!”

“正因為你救了我，我才要殺你啊!”

“好心對待你，你卻要殺我!老話確實講得不錯，這真是‘恩將仇報’了!”

“別再羅唆了，”魔鬼說道，“反正你是非死不可的。”

這時候漁夫想道：“他是個魔鬼，我是個堂堂的人。我的智慧一定能壓制他的妖氣。”于是他對魔鬼說：“你決心要殺我嗎?”

“不錯。”

“憑神的名字起誓，我要問你一件事，你必須說實話。”

“可以，”魔鬼說，“問吧，要簡短些。”

“你不是住在這個膽瓶里嗎?可是照道理說，這個銅瓶既容不下你一只手，更容不下你一條腿，怎麼容得下你這樣龐大的整個身體呀?”

“你不相信我住在這個膽瓶里嗎?”

“我沒有親眼看見，絕對不能相信。”

這時候，魔鬼搖身一變，變成一團青煙，逐漸縮成一縷，慢慢地鉆進膽瓶。漁夫見青煙全進了膽瓶，就立刻拾起蓋印的錫封，把瓶口封上，然后學著魔鬼的口吻大聲說：“告訴我吧，魔鬼，你希望怎樣死?現(xiàn)在我決心把你投到海里去。”

魔鬼聽了漁夫的話，就說：“漁夫，剛才我是跟你開玩笑的。”

“下流無恥的魔鬼，你這是說謊呀!”漁夫一邊把膽瓶挪近海邊，準備扔到海里去，一邊說，“我要把你投到海里，你說你在海里已經(jīng)住過一千八百年，這一回我非叫你在海里住一輩子不可。我知道你是壞透了的。我不僅要把你投到海里，還要把你怎樣對待我的事告訴世人，叫大家當心。撈著你就立刻把你投回海里去，叫你永遠留在海里。”