I have only one favour to grant thee. And what is
that, says the fisherman? It is, answers the genie, to give you
your choice in what manner you wouldst have me to take thy life.
But wherein have I offended you, replies the fisherman? Is this
the reward for the good service I have done you. I cannot treat
you otherwise, says the genie; and that you may be convinced of
it, hearken to my story.
I am one of those rebellious spirits that opposed themselves to
the will of Heaven; all the other genies owned Solomon, the great
prophet, and submitted to him. Sacar and I were the only genies
that would never be guilty of so mean a thing: And, to avenge
himself, that great monarch sent Asaph, the son of Barakia, his
chief minister, to apprehend me. That was accordingly done; Asaph
seized my person, and brought me by force before his master's
throne.
Solomon, the son of David, commanded me to quit my way of living,
to acknowledge his power, and to submit myself to his commands: I
bravely refused to obey, and told him, I would rather expose
myself to his resentment, than swear fealty, and submit to him as
he required. To punish me, he shut me up in this copper vessel;
and to make sure of me that I should not break prison, he stamped
(himself) upon this leaden cover his seal, with the great name
God engraven upon it.
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