Storytelling Week 5: The Fisherman and the Genie

Dragging himself out of bed, just after the rooster crowed at dawn, the old fisherman yawned and stretched, ready for another day of fishing. He changed into his black goulashes and old, worn out overalls, and placed his forest green fishing hat upon his peppered gray hair. "Let's see if we can catch a some food today," he thought as he grabbed his lucky red and white fishing pole and threw the heavy rope net over his shoulder. He stumbled out the door.

When he got to his fishing hole, he cast out the net, and he plopped down on the bank, mostly consisting of mud and a few patches of bright green grass. He sunk into the mud just a little and made himself comfortable for a long day of fishing. As he looked over the still blue-green lake, he hoped and prayed to God that he would catch just one decent fish to take home and feed his family with. He sat for a few minutes, taking in the morning sun and feeling the slight breeze while the birds sang good morning, then he stood up to pull in the net. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to pull, making the old man's hopes rise that it could be a school of fish. He continued to pull, with all of his might, until his net and its contents were up on the shore. The old man's face dropped as he examined the rotting, broken donkey carcass he had pulled ashore. The old man bent down to disentangle it, but held his breath as to not pass out from the stench of the dead animal. He moved the animal aside. Disappointed with his catch, and upset at the gaping holes the donkey's carcass had made in his net, the old man cast out the net again.

This time, he pulled in the net with ease, which meant he must not have caught anything. But as he pulled in the net, he noticed a shiny gold object caught in the netting. He pulled out a pot. He examined the beauty of the details and bright colored gems decorating the pot, then felt that it was full of something. He pulled open the lid, and a bundle of thick, black smoke rolled out, causing him to drop the pot and stumble backwards a couple of steps. The smoke continued to roll into a massive black cloud, which slowly took a shape... The fisherman realized it was a genie. The genie was massive, over 15 feet tall and as wide as an elephant. Its eyes glared red, and its teeth were gray spikes, and the hands were in the shape of claws. Every inch of the fisherman's body froze, and he nearly burst into tears with fright.

The genie then began to speak with such boldness that it shook the earth beneath the fisherman's feet. The genie was to kill the old man because the genie was sworn to kill the man who released him from the jar. The fisherman became shocked and upset at the genie's intentions, but then the old man had an idea to trick the genie. The fisherman consented to the genie's request, but on the condition that the genie answer a question. "Did you actually come from that vase?" asked the old man. The genie replied yes, but the old man threw his head back just a little and scoffed. "It's not possible that a genie as large and powerful as you could fit into that jar." The genie was instantly offended, but was determined to prove to the ignorant man that he could fit into the jar. The massive genie's figure then disintegrated back into a cloud of smoke, which swirled in a massive circle over the lake, then sucked very quickly back into the pot. The old man walked over to the pot, and leaned over to peer inside. Only seeing the terrible face of the genie, the genie asked if the old man now believed the genie could fit in the vase. The fisherman said he did believe, but as he said this, he pulled the lid to the jar out from behind his back and thrust it upon the pot, sealing it shut once again.

Old man fishing
Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note/ Bibliography: This story originated from Andrew Lang's "The Story of the Fisherman," found in his book, The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (1898). The original story and mine are actually almost the same, I just chose to make it descriptive, as to paint a picture of what I would imagine the story being like. The only thing I changed was that in the original story, the fisherman cast his net out four times before getting the jar, and I only made him cast it twice. Also, the very beginning I have is not in the original, I added the 'getting out of bed' scene to set up the rest of the story. I enjoyed writing this though; the original story did not have any descriptions, but I think they make for a more relatable and entertaining story.