The Story of the Merchant with the Efreet
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The third sheikh finishes his story and, as expected, the efreet grants him the last part of the merchant's blood. So, the merchant is saved and everyone is happy.
Then Sheherazade starts a new story whose main character is a poor fisherman. This story will include other stories, which themselves will include other stories.
ON THE FOURTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
The third sheikh continued his story:
"And immediately I became a dog, and she drove me out of my house. And I went out, and I kept wandering ever since, and finally, I come to a butcher's shop. I approached and began to eat bones. When the master of the shop saw me, he took me and came with me to his abode.
When the butcher's daughter saw me, she immediately veiled her face because of me, and said to her father, “Is this how it is done? You take a man and you come into our house with him!" Her father said, "But where is this man?" She replied, "This dog is a man. And it was a woman who bewitched him. And I can deliver it." At these words, the father said: “By Allah upon you! O my daughter, deliver him!" She took a pitcher of water and, after having murmured a few words over this water, she sprinkled me with a few drops, and said: "Get out of this form and return to your first form!" Then I returned to my former form, kissed the maiden's hand, and said: "I now desire that you bewitch my wife as she bewitched me." She then gave me some water and said, "If you find your wife sleeping, sprinkle her with this water, and she will become as you wish!" Coming back to my house, I found her sleeping, sprinkled her with water, and said, "Come out of this form and become the image of a mule." And that very hour she became a mule.
And it is she herself that you see there with your own eye, O sultan and chief of the kings of the genies! "
Then the efreet turned to the mule and said, “Is that true?" And she began to nod her head and said by a sign: “Oh yes! Oh yes! This is true."
All this story made the efreet convulse with emotion and pleasure, and he gave the old man the last third of the blood.
Then the merchant, very happy, went to meet the sheikhs and thanked them very much. And they, in turn, congratulated him on his deliverance.
And each of them returned to his country.
“But,” continued Schahrazade, “that is no more astonishing than the story of the fisherman."
Then the King said to Schahrazade: “What story of the fisherman?"
And Schahrazade says:
The Story of the Fisherman with the Efreet.
It came to me, O fortunate King, that there was a fisherman, a man very advanced in age, married, father of three children, and very poor in his condition.
He used to cast his net four times a day, nothing more. Now, one day among the days, at noon, he went to the seaside, put down his basket, cast his net, and waited until the net went to rest at the bottom of the water. So he gathered the threads and found the net very heavy, and could not pull it to him. He then brought the end to the ground and tied it to a stake driven into the ground. Then he undressed, plunged into the water around the net, and did not stop struggling until he got it out. He rejoiced, dressed again, and approaching the net, he found a dead donkey there. At this sight, he was grieved, and said: “There is no power and strength except in Allah the Highest, the Almighty!" Then he said, "But verily, this gift from Allah is amazing!" And he recited this verse:
O diver! you roll in the darkness of night and perdition, blindly! Go, stop the hard work; for Fortune does not like movement!
— Then Scheherazade saw the morning appear, and discreetly she stopped speaking, without taking advantage of the permission. Then her sister Doniazade said to her: “O my sister, how sweet, and kind, and savory, and delicious in their freshness are your words! Scheherazade answered: “But what is that, compared to what I will tell you next night if I am still alive, and if the King is willing to keep me?" And the King said to himself: “By Allah! I will not kill her until I have heard the rest of her story."
Then the King and Scheherazade spent that night embracing until morning. After which, the King went out to the hall of justice. And the vizier and the officers entered, and the diwan was full of people. And the King judged, and appointed, and dismissed, and ended the affairs, and gave his orders, and that unto the end of the day. Then the diwan was lifted, and King Schahriar returned to his palace.
The Merchant with the Efreet:
First Night - Second Night - Third Night
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Very smart of Sheherazade to keep the king's interest by intertwining the tales into each other. I'm enjoying them as well! 😅
At last the merchant is free from the Efreet thanks to sheikhs. This act displays the power of compelling stories to save a life! It's good to read that the third sheikh's wife got her just dessert at last. It was unkind of her to turn her husband into a dog which goes to show she did not miss him during the one year he was away. Why do these characters enjoy turning themselves into animals and why are the women the ones with 'the eyes' to recognize the enchantment? 😄
Sheherazade's tale of the fisherman and the dead donkey is intriguing. Unlike other story characters that are rich, we meet a character who is poor and fishes for a living. I wonder what this donkey's story is? Is it really dead? Who killed it and why? I hope it's not a human changed by magic into a donkey! 😅 I'm looking forward to the continuing chapters. Thank you very much for sharing. 😊😊
"Hahaha! Scheherazade turned out to be more clever than we thought"
It was very good to see that three sheikhs together saved the life of this merchant wisely from efreet. If I tell you the truth, reading the story even inside the story has its own fun.
It also made me laugh when I read that the mule the third sheikh is riding is his wife who betrayed him and is now being punished for it. But somehow the three sheikhs together saved the life of this poor merchant I think that nowadays in this chaotic era, hardly care about anyone because now the situation is such that everyone is focused on himself.
Let me tell you a situation here, some time ago, it was heard that a man was riding a motorcycle, he met a man on the road and stopped him with his hand and asked him for help, the man said to the motorcyclist that you are going ahead, so let me sit with you and go ahead and take me off because wherever I want to go is in your way, the motorcyclist took him behind him and started to move forward, but as soon as the person sitting behind reached his area, which was on the way, he putted out a pistol and aimed to the motorcyclist and robbed him easily.
Ever since I heard this story, I have never stopped for giving lifts to the people, although earlier I used to give lifts to anyone I saw and asked for a lift with great pleasure because I used to worry that the person walking who doesn't have a bike or a car to ride, because how would I feel if I were in his place and I had to reach my destination early and if I asked someone for a lift and they didn't give me? I used to help people with this thinking but now the situation is such that anything can happen so it is better to protect yourself first.
Now back to our story, Scheherazade cleverly ends one story and begins another name as "Fisherman with the Efreet" Scheherazade is very clever and has decided that it will give her a little more time, that is why she has entangled the King Schahriar in a new story of a fisherman and a efreet and there is no doubt that the Scheherazade's stories are so good that the King Schahriar will not kill her without listening the story from her, Scheherazade knows this and is taking advantage of it.
Scheherazade has taken a day off from the King Schahriar and the King Schahriar happily gives her one more day now, let's see how she handles the King Schahriar after this story....
And "The Story of the Merchant with the Efreet" ended satisfyingly. At first, I thought that maybe Sheikhs might not be able to convince the Efreet but then their stories were irresistible and filled with intriguing events about loyalty, morality, trust, and the dark side of human nature. I am glad the Sheikhs stood by the merchant even in death and also fought for his life. I guess the merchant would never forget them in his lifetime. The Sheikh characters reminds me that humanity is yet dead and also the Merchant's honesty and bravery made the Sheikhs stand with him.
Scheherazade is a wonderful storyteller and I must say I like how she explores various intriguing themes in her stories in a masterful way. I am curious already, is the donkey that the fisherman found the Efreet?
Thank you for sharing these amazing stories. ☺️
The story of the Merchant with the Efreet turned out to be a good story with a happy ending. I really like this short but meaningful story because it still has a lesson.
One thing I've learned is to never give up. At first, I thought that the merchant was really going to die at the hands of the Efreet because nothing really seemed to be able to stop the power of the Efreet. That's why the merchant said goodbye to his family and loved ones because even he has accepted the end of his life. He accepted his death. That's why he also sold his possessions for his dear life.
For some unknown reason, help came for him, it was the three Sheikhs. They don't even have power but they have the desire to save the merchant so he doesn't die at the hands of the Efreet. They used their wits and skill to tell their story and all the Efreet loved it.
The skill of the three Sheikhs was impressive, which is why the life of the Merchant was saved.
Don't give up on life as long as we're still alive, that's my takeaway from this story. Because there is still hope as long as we are still alive. As long as we are alive there is still hope. As long as we have hope, we will have the perseverance to save the life that is in danger or we can lift ourselves from the challenges of life.
There is a new story, it is about a poor fisherman. What is this about? That's what we will know in the next chapter of Schahrazade's stories. Can't wait :)
We all should appreciate the intelligence of Scheherazade as she has done a splinded job to save her life and her sister life. So, cleverly she finished one story and then asked the sultan to start a new story, with this new story she can buy as much time as she want.
I'm sure she will not stop there and will start doing it, untill or unless sultan make his decision to kill her and her sister.
Back to the Story, We have a second good news that now the merchant life is saved also and Efreet guranteed that he will not kill the merchant and spared his life because of the beautiful stories that 3 shiekhs tells the Efreet.
The is the Gift for his kind behaviour with the humans as well as well with animals, otherwise he would have lost his life untill now.
I'm pretty sure the king is also fallen in love with the Scheherazade and her intelligence, she has everything to become the queen and King will cancel his decision to kill the Scheherazade .
Now i'm looking forward to the story of fisher Man, Though he is poor but I can easily see that his faith of Allah is great and he will get rewarded for his faith on Allah.
It's my rough guess that, he will find the Genie and Genie will ask him to tell the Genie his wishes and desires and with the Permission of ALLAH he will full his wishes and he will then will a happy life.
Here we can see the power of transformation and the dangers of magic. The third sheikh was transformed into a dog by a woman's magic and only regained his human form with the help of another woman's magic. Similarly, the efreet in the second story has the power to transform the fisherman's life through his wishes. However, these transformations come at a cost, as the sheikh was driven out of his home and the fisherman must confront the efreet's demands. Be aware of the magic!
without taking advantage of the permission.
After three nights, Sheherazade believed she had understood the king's character, so she made a bold move. Perhaps the king was already unable to do without her.
It seems that Scheherazade's plan is working out perfectly. Not only is he preventing him from killing her and her sister while she keeps the king entertained and intrigued. But he is also earning her esteem and making himself essential.
Now comes the story of the fisherman, we will see what more adventures the cunning Scheherazade tells us.