2 The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon

CHAPTER 2 The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon THE FIFTH NIGHT The next night, Dinarzad said to her sister, "Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us one of your lovely little tales." The king said, "Let it be the story of the fisherman." Scheherazade replied, "As you wish."

第二章渔夫与魔鬼的故事第五天晚上，迪娜扎德对妹妹说：“姐姐，如果你不困，请给我们讲一个你的可爱的小故事吧。” 国王说：“就写成渔夫的故事吧。” 山鲁佐德回答说：“如你所愿。”

It is said that there was a very old fisherman who had a wife and three daughters. They were so poor that they did not even have enough food to get them through each day. This fisherman cast his net four times a day. One day, while the moon was still up and the morning was young, he went out with his net past the outskirts of the city to the seashore. Then he waded out into the water, cast his net, and waited for it to sink. He gathered the rope and started to pull, feeling it get heavier and heavier, until he was unable to pull it any farther. He took off his clothes and dove into the water, swimming under the net and shaking and pulling at it until he finally brought it to shore. Feeling quite happy, he went to open the net. But when he did, he found only a large, empty jar. The fisherman felt sad after all his work and said, "This is a strange catch!" The fisherman prayed, cleaned his net,

据说，有一个很老的渔夫，他有一个妻子和三个女儿。 他们很穷，甚至没有足够的食物来度过每一天。 这个渔夫一天撒四次网。 一天，当月亮还没有落下，早晨还很早的时候，他拿着网，穿过城郊来到海边。 然后他涉水上岸，撒下网，等着它沉下去。 他把绳子收起来，开始拉，感觉绳子越来越重，直到再也拉不动了。 他脱下衣服，跳进水里，在网下游来游去，不停地摇晃，拉着网，最后把网拉上了岸。 他感到很高兴，就去打开网。 但当他找到时，他只发现了一个大空罐子。 渔夫干了这么多活，心里很难过，说：“真奇怪！”渔夫祈祷，洗净渔网，

mended it, and set it out to dry. Then he waded back into the water and cast his net again. Once again the net got stuck, and once again the fisherman had to dive into the water to free it. When he pulled the net to shore and looked inside, tears filled his eyes. There was nothing in the net but a rotten old log. "This is the strangest day!" he cried. The fisherman again laid his net out to dry, and again prayed to God. When the net was dry, he cast it a third time and waited for it to sink. This time when he pulled the net up, he found nothing inside but broken bottles and stones. He wept at his bad luck. Then the fisherman raised his eyes to the heavens and said, "O Lord, you know that I cast my net only four times each day. I have already cast it three times, and there is only one more try left. Lord, let the sea help me!" He cast his net into the water a fourth time and watched it sink. When he pulled, the net didn't

把它补好，然后拿出来晾干。 然后他涉水回到水里，再次撒网。 网又一次被卡住了，渔夫不得不再一次潜入水中把网解救出来。 当他把网拉到岸边，往里看时，泪水夺眶而出。 网里除了一根腐烂的旧木头什么也没有。 “这是最奇怪的一天！” 渔夫再次把网摊开晾干，再次向上帝祈祷。 网干了，他又撒了第三次，等着网沉下去。 这一次，当他把网拉起来时，除了破瓶子和石头外，什么也没发现。 他因运气不好而哭泣。渔夫举目望天说：“主啊，你知道我一天只撒四次网。 我已经投了三次了，只剩下最后一次了。 主啊，让大海帮助我吧！”他第四次把网撒进水里，看着它沉下去。 当他拉的时候，网没有

move. He shook it and found that it was caught at the bottom. Once again, he dove into the water, and he worked a long time to shake the net free and drag it to shore. There was something heavy inside. When he opened the net, he saw a large brass jar with a stopper at the end. The fisherman was happy, saying to himself, "I will sell it at the market, for it must be worth a lot of money." He tried to move the jar, but it was so heavy that he was unable to budge it. He decided to remove the stopper and pour out the contents. Using his knife, he finally worked the stopper loose. Then he tilted the jar to the ground and shook it, but nothing came out. He was very surprised. After a while, though, a great cloud of smoke rose, getting bigger and bigger until it hid the daylight. For a long time, the smoke kept rising from the jar. Then it gathered and took shape, and there stood a demon with his feet on the

移动。他摇了摇它，发现它被夹在了底部。 他又一次潜入水中，花了很长时间才把网抖开，拖到岸边。 里面有很重的东西。 当他打开网时，他看到一个大铜罐，底部有一个塞。 渔夫很高兴，对自己说：“我要把它拿到市场上卖掉，因为它一定值很多钱。” 他想搬动那个罐子，但它太沉了，他动不了。 他决定拔掉塞子，把里面的东西倒出来。 他用小刀终于把塞子拧松了。 然后他把罐子歪在地上摇晃，但什么也没出来。 他非常惊讶。过了一会儿，一大片烟雾升起，越来越大，直到遮住了阳光。 很长一段时间，烟一直从罐子里冒出来。 鬼聚集成形，就有一个鬼站在那里，脚站在坛上

ground and his head in the clouds. He had a head like a fortress, a mouth like a cave, and great fangs for teeth. When the fisherman saw him, he shook with terror, his jaw froze, and his mouth went dry. But morning drew near Scheherazade, and she fell silent. Dinarzad said to her sister, "Sister, what an amazing story!" Scheherazade replied, "Tomorrow night I will tell you something even more amazing, if I stay alive." THE SIXTH NIGHT The following night, Dinarzad said, "Please, sister, tell us another one of your lovely stories." The king added, "Let it be the end of the story of the demon and the fisherman." Scheherazade replied, "With the greatest pleasure!"

地面和他的头在云。 他有一个像堡垒一样的头，一张像洞穴一样的嘴，还有巨大的尖牙。 渔夫看见他，吓得浑身发抖，下巴发僵，嘴巴发干。 可是，天快亮了，舍赫拉扎德沉默了。 迪娜扎德对妹妹说：“姐姐，这真是个神奇的故事！”山鲁佐德回答说：“明天晚上，如果我活着的话，我会告诉你一件更神奇的事。” 第六天晚上，迪娜扎德说：“姐姐，请你再给我们讲一个你的可爱的故事吧。” 国王又说：“让魔鬼和渔夫的故事就此结束吧。” 山鲁佐德回答说：“非常乐意！”

I heard, O happy King, that the fisherman asked, "Demon, why are you in this jar?" The demon replied, "Be glad!" The fisherman asked "Glad of what?" The demon added, "Be glad that you will be soon put to death." The fisherman frowned at this and said, "Why do you wish to kill me when I have brought you back into this world?" The demon replied, "Make a wish!" The fisherman was happy again and said, "What will I wish for?" The demon replied, "Tell me how you wish to die." The fisherman asked, "Is this my reward for having freed you from the jar?" The demon replied, "Fisherman, listen to my story. I angered God and he put me in this brass jar and sealed it tight. Then he threw me into the sea. I stayed there for two hundred years, thinking, 'Whoever sets me free, I will make him rich.' But the two hundred years went by and no one set me free. When I entered the next hundred years, I

快乐的国王啊，我听说渔夫问：“魔鬼，你为什么在这个罐子里？”鬼回答说：“欢喜吧！”渔夫问：“为什么高兴？”鬼又说、你被快治死、该欢喜。 渔夫皱起眉头说：“我把你带回到这个世界上，你为什么要杀我？”魔鬼回答说：“许个愿吧！”渔夫又高兴了，他说：“我许什么愿呢？”鬼说：“告诉我，你愿意怎样死？” 渔夫问：“这就是我把你从坛子里救出来的报酬吗？”魔鬼回答说：“渔夫，听我的故事。 我触怒了上帝，他把我放进这个铜罐里，封得严严实实。 然后他把我扔进了海里。 我在那里呆了两百年，心想：“谁让我自由，我就使他富有。”但是两百年过去了，没有人放我自由。 当我进入下一个百年，我