long sought for, eagerly gave for it all the jewels
in his basket. He retired with his prize, and
having rubbed the ring, commanded the genii to convey
the palace and all its inhabitants, excepting the
fisherman’s son, into a distant desert island,
which was done instantly. The fisherman’s
son, on awaking in the morning, found himself lying
on the mound of sand, which had reoccupied its old
spot. He arose, and in alarm lest the sultan
should put him to death in revenge for the loss of
his daughter, fled to another kingdom as quickly as
possible. Here he endured a disconsolate life,
subsisting on the sale of some jewels, which he happened
to have upon his dress at his flight. Wandering
one day through a town, a man offered him for sale
a dog, a cat, and a rat, which he purchased, and kept,
diverting his melancholy with their tricks, and uncommon
playfulness together. These seeming animals proved
to be magicians; who, in return for his kindness,
agreed to recover for their master his lost prize,
and informed him of their intention. He eagerly
thanked them, and they all set out in search of the
palace, the ring, and the princess. At length
they reached the shore of the ocean, after much travel,
and descried the island on which it stood, when the
dog swam over, carrying on his back the cat and the
rat. Being landed, they proceeded to the palace;
when the rat entered, and perceived the Jew asleep
upon a sofa, with the ring laid before him, which
he seized in his mouth, and then returned to his companions.
They began to cross the sea, as before, but when about
half over the dog expressed a wish to carry the ring
in his mouth. The rat refused, lest he should
drop it; but the dog threatened, unless he would give
it him, to dive and drown them both in the sea.
The rat, alarmed for his life, complied with his demand:
but the dog missed his aim in snatching at the ring,
which fell into the ocean. They landed, and informed
the fisherman’s son of his loss: upon which
he, in despair, resolved to drown himself; when suddenly,
as he was going to execute his purpose, a great fish
appearing with the ring in his mouth, swam close to
shore, and having dropped it within reach of the despairing
youth, miraculously exclaimed, “I am the fish
which you released from captivity, and thus reward
you for your generosity.” The fisherman’s
son, overjoyed, returned to his father-in-law’s
capital, and at night rubbing the ring, commanded
the genii to convey the palace to its old site.
This being done in an instant, he entered the palace,
and seized the Jew, whom he commanded to be cast alive
into a burning pile, in which he was consumed.
From this period he lived happily with his princess,
and on the death of the sultan succeeded to his dominions.
Story of Abou
Neeut and Abou Neeuteen;
or, the well-intentioned
and the double-
minded.