Once upon a time, there was a fisherman who would go to the sea every day to fish.
One day, just like usual, he cast his net into the sea, but after several attempts, he didn’t catch any fish, only some miscellaneous items.
As he pulled in his net once more, still without any fish, he found only a bottle.
The fisherman felt disappointed and muttered to himself, “It seems that today the heavens don’t want me to catch any fish. Let me see what’s inside this bottle first, maybe there’s a surprise!”
While saying this, the fisherman opened the stopper sealing the bottle’s mouth.
Immediately, a green smoke drifted out from the bottle.
This smoke floated into the air, growing larger and larger until it transformed into an enormous and terrifying genie!
The fisherman was terrified. He thought to himself, expecting a surprise, but he never imagined it would be such a terrifying one. What should he do now?
At that moment, the genie spoke, saying, “Thank you for freeing me, but I must kill you!”
The fisherman, suppressing his fear, said, “Why? I am your savior, and yet you want to kill me?”
The genie replied, “Don’t be in a hurry; first, listen to my story. I was a genie and naturally did many bad things, which led to me being trapped in this bottle by the god and thrown into the sea.
During the first hundred years inside the bottle, I thought to myself: If anyone were to open the bottle and free me, I would grant them countless riches, more than they could ever spend. But no one came to rescue me.
In the second hundred years, I thought: If someone were to save me, I would find all the treasures in the world for them and give it to them! Yet still, no one came to save me.
In the third hundred years, I thought: If anyone could rescue me, I would fulfill three of their wishes! Whether they want to be a king, possess gold and silver, or anything else, I would grant it! But still, no one came to rescue me.
Enraged, I thought to myself: In this fourth hundred years, if someone were to save me, I would kill them!”
After finishing his tale, the genie said to the fisherman, “Now you understand why, even though you saved me, I must kill you? It’s your own misfortune for not rescuing me in the first three hundred years!”
Hearing this, the fisherman replied, “If what you say is true, then I can only accept my misfortune. But your body, as large as a small mountain, how could you have been imprisoned in a bottle by the god? Who would believe that? It’s just an excuse for you to kill me!”
Immediately, the genie responded, “I will prove it to you right now, and you’ll die convinced!”
With that, the genie transformed back into a green smoke and flew back into the bottle.
The fisherman hastily plugged the bottle’s mouth with the stopper and shouted at the bottle, “You big genie, I’m going to throw you back into the sea!”
The genie pleaded from inside the bottle, “Don’t throw me! I was wrong, please let me out, I will fulfill all your wishes. If you want to be a king, or possess all the gold and silver in the world, it’s yours!”
The fisherman retorted, “I won’t believe the promises of a genie! Furthermore, I will tell others about this incident so they won’t release you. Prepare to spend the rest of your days inside!”
Leave a Reply