Once upon¹ a time there was an old fisherman. He went fishing very early every morning, but he never cast² 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 broken³, 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 jar⁴ with a lid⁵. 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 Genie⁶!

"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 spirits⁷ in heaven⁸. 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 treasures⁹ 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 decided¹⁰ 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.

从前有一个渔夫，家里很穷。他每天早上到海边去捕鱼，但是他自己立下一条规矩，每天至多撒四次网。

有一天早上，撒了三次网，什么都没捞着，他很不高兴。第四次把网拉拢来的时候，他觉得太重了，简直拉不动。他就脱了衣服跳下水去，把网拖上岸来。打开网一看，发现网里有一个胆形的黄铜瓶，瓶口用锡封着，锡上盖着所罗门的印。

渔夫一见，笑逐颜开，说道：“我把这瓶子带到市上去，可以卖它十块金币。”他抱着铜瓶摇了一摇，觉得很重，里面似乎塞满了东西。他自言自语地说：“这个瓶里到底装的什么东西？我要打开来看个清楚，再拿去卖。”他就从腰带上拔出小刀，撬去瓶口上的锡封，然后摇摇瓶子，想把里面的东西倒出来，但是什么东西也没有。他觉得非常奇怪。

隔一会儿，瓶里冒出一股青烟，飘飘荡荡地升到空中，继而弥漫在大地上，逐渐凝成一团，最后变成个巨大的魔鬼，披头散发，高高地耸立在渔夫面前。魔鬼头像堡垒，手像铁叉，腿像桅杆，口像山洞，牙齿像白石块，鼻孔像喇叭，眼睛像灯笼，样子非常凶恶。

渔夫一看见这可怕的魔鬼，呆呆的不知如何应付。一会儿，他听见魔鬼叫道：“所罗门啊，别杀我，以后我不敢再违背您的命令了！”

“魔鬼！”渔夫说道，“所罗门已经死了一千八百年了。你是怎麽钻到这个瓶子里的呢？”

魔鬼说：“渔夫啊，准备死吧！你选择怎样死吧，我立刻就要把你杀掉！”

“我犯了什么罪？”渔夫问道，“我把你从海里捞上来，又把你从胆瓶里放出来，救了你的命，你为什么要杀我？”

魔鬼答道：“你听一听我的故事就明白了。”

“说吧，”渔夫说，“简单些。”

“你要知道，”魔鬼说，“我是个无恶不作的凶神，曾经跟所罗门作对，他派人把我捉去，装在这个胆瓶里，用锡封严了，又盖上印，投到海里。我在海里呆着，在第一个世纪里，我常常想：‘谁要是在这个世纪里解救我，我一定报答他，使他终身享受荣华富贵。’一百年过去了，可是没有人来解救我。第二个世纪开始的时候，我说：‘谁要是在这个世纪里解救我，我一定报答他，把全世界的宝库都指点给他。’可是没有人来解救我。第三个世纪开始的时候，我说：‘谁要是在这个世纪里解救我，我一定报答他，满足他的三种愿望。’可是整整过了四百年，始终没有人来解救我。于是我非常生气，我说：‘从今以后，谁要是来解救我，我一定要杀死他，不过准许他选择怎样死。’渔夫，现在你解救了我，所以我叫你选择你的死法。”

渔夫叫道：“好倒霉啊，碰上我来解救你！是我救了你的命啊！”

“正因为你救了我，我才要杀你啊！”

“好心对待你，你却要杀我！老话确实讲得不错，这真是‘恩将仇报’了！”

“别再罗唆了，”魔鬼说道，“反正你是非死不可的。”

这时候渔夫想道：“他是个魔鬼，我是个堂堂的人。我的智慧一定能压制他的妖气。”于是他对魔鬼说：“你决心要杀我吗？”

“不错。”

“凭神的名字起誓，我要问你一件事，你必须说实话。”

“可以，”魔鬼说，“问吧，要简短些。”

“你不是住在这个胆瓶里吗？可是照道理说，这个铜瓶既容不下你一只手，更容不下你一条腿，怎麽容得下你这样庞大的整个身体呀？”

“你不相信我住在这个胆瓶里吗？”

“我没有亲眼看见，绝对不能相信。”

这时候，魔鬼摇身一变，变成一团青烟，逐渐缩成一缕，慢慢地钻进胆瓶。渔夫见青烟全进了胆瓶，就立刻拾起盖印的锡封，把瓶口封上，然后学着魔鬼的口吻大声说：“告诉我吧，魔鬼，你希望怎样死？现在我决心把你投到海里去。”

魔鬼听了渔夫的话，就说：“渔夫，刚才我是跟你开玩笑的。”

“下流无耻的魔鬼，你这是说谎呀！”渔夫一边把胆瓶挪近海边，准备扔到海里去，一边说，“我要把你投到海里，你说你在海里已经住过一千八百年，这一回我非叫你在海里住一辈子不可。我知道你是坏透了的。我不仅要把你投到海里，还要把你怎样对待我的事告诉世人，叫大家当心。捞着你就立刻把你投回海里去，叫你永远留在海里。”