The young man said - "My father Mahamood was the king of this country. This country was called Black Isles. It was surrounded by four little mountains and the capital was where now the great lake is. At the age of 66 my father died and I was crowned the King of this country. I married my cousin whom I loved dearly and I thought that she also loved me.

One afternoon when I was half asleep and the two maids were fanning me, I heard one say - "What a pity that our queen doesn't love the King any more. I think she is planning to kill him for she is an enchantress." I soon found out that they were right. Once I wounded a favorite slave of hers for a great crime, she begged me to build a palace for him in the garden and wept there for two years. Although he could not move or speak but by enchantment she kept him alive. When I asked her to grieve for him, she got very angry at me, and by some magic words she turned my half body in stone and put me in this condition as you are seeing now.

Then this wicked woman changed the capital into the lakes and plain desert you saw. She changed the people of our country into fish and put them in that lake. Their colors belong to their different races. And this is not all, she comes daily here and beats me with a whip of buffalo hide." After telling his story, the young man burst into tears and the King got moved by his story. He asked him - "Where is that wicked woman and her slave whom she has kept alive?"

The young man said - "Where she lives, I do not know, but she goes daily to him to talk to him after she has beaten me up." So the King thought of a plan to be carried out next day. Next day before sunrise the King went to the palace which stood in the garden, found the Black Man, killed him with his sword, and threw his body in a well. He himself lay down in the place of that Black Man and covered himself with his cloth. He waited for the queen.

The queen first went to the young man, beat him with the whip 100 times and came to the Black Man and said - "Are you better today, my dear? Please speak to me once." The King copied the language of the Ethiopians and spoke - "How can I be better, when I cannot sleep because of the cries of your husband?" The queen was very happy to hear his voice again, she said - "Do you want me to turn him into the original shape?" "Yes, Do it soon and free him so that I do not hear his moans." She immediately went to the palace, took a cup of water, boiled it with some magical words and threw it on the young man. The young man immediately turned into the human being. She said to him - "Now go from here and never come back lest I kill you." The young man ran away from there.

Then that witch came to her palace again and said to the Black Man - "I have done what you asked." The Black Man said - "It is not enough for me. All the people you turned into fish cry at midnight, change them also into their proper shapes." The witch ran to the lake, said some magical words over the lake and all the fish became people of the country. And once more the country of the Black Isles was inhabited.

The queen again went to her palace and asked the Black Man - "Are you happy now?" The Black Man (the King) said - "Yes, But come near me." She came nearer to him, and as she approached him, the King cut her neck with his sword. The King went to the young man and said to him - "Rejoice now, your enemy is dead." The young man thanked him a lot. The King said - "Now I will go to my capital, which is very near to yours." The young man smiled - "No Sir, It is not so near. Do you know it is one year journey from here now." The King said - "It will give me much pleasure if you accompany with me. I have no child, I will make you my heir.

Both set out for their journey with lots gifts from the King of the Black Isles. As they reached their capital, the King announced the young man as his heir. The fisherman was given lots of money. He was very happy now."

End of Story No 2