He began to walk in front of the fisherman, who followed him with some misgivings.  They passed in front of the town, and went up a mountain and then down into a great plain, where there was a large lake lying between four hills.

When they reached the lake the genius said to the fisherman, “Throw your nets and catch fish.”

The fisherman did as he was told, hoping for a good catch, as he saw plenty of fish.  What was his astonishment at seeing that there were four quite different kinds, some white, some red, some blue, and some yellow.  He caught four, one of each colour.  As he had never seen any like them he admired them very much, and he was very pleased to think how much money he would get for them.

“Take these fish and carry them to the Sultan, who will give you more money for them than you have ever had in your life.  You can come every day to fish in this lake, but be careful not to throw your nets more than once every day, otherwise some harm will happen to you.  If you follow my advice carefully you will find it good.”

Saying these words, he struck his foot against the ground, which opened, and when he had disappeared, it closed immediately.

The fisherman resolved to obey the genius exactly, so he did not cast his nets a second time, but walked into the town to sell his fish at the palace.

When the Sultan saw the fish he was much astonished.  He looked at them one after the other, and when he had admired them long enough, “Take these fish,” he said to his first vizir, “and given them to the clever cook the Emperor of the Greeks sent me.  I think they must be as good as they are beautiful.”

The vizir took them himself to the cook, saying, “Here are four fish that have been brought to the Sultan.  He wants you to cook them.”

Then he went back to the Sultan, who told him to give the fisherman four hundred gold pieces.  The fisherman, who had never before possessed such a large sum of money at once, could hardly believe his good fortune.  He at once relieved the needs of his family, and made good use of it.

But now we must return to the kitchen, which we shall find in great confusion.  The cook, when she had cleaned the fish, put them in a pan with some oil to fry them.  When she thought them cooked enough on one side she turned them on the other.  But scarcely had she done so when the walls of the kitchen opened, and there came out a young and beautiful damsel.  She was dressed in an Egyptian dress of flowered satin, and she wore earrings, and a necklace of white pearls, and bracelets of gold set with rubies, and she held a wand of myrtle in her hand.

She went up to the pan, to the great astonishment of the cook, who stood motionless at the sight of her.  She struck one of the fish with her rod, “Fish, fish,” said she, “are you doing your duty?” The fish answered nothing, and then she repeated her question, whereupon they all raised their heads together and answered very distinctly, “Yes, yes.  If you reckon, we reckon.  If you pay your debts, we pay ours.  If you fly, we conquer, and we are content.”