my girlhood dream to have a genie, so I came
quite prepared.
As the castle fell from the sky, I gave the
Djinn my best sympathetic glance over the cloud
of fragrant tea, and my allure then slowed the
castle's descent.
"Why do you want to kill us, oh Genie?" quoth I.
“When abducted from my home and forced to
join the slaves in the building of the Temple of
the Son of David, the filth, I completed my job
diligently alongside my kin. Son of David, may
his name be forgotten, bade us embrace the true
faith of Allah, his name be damned. I refused, and
for this I was shut up inside this cursed cucurbit,
and a seal was placed over the opening. On this
was writ the name of God Most High, which
prevented me from leaving. As the Son of
David, cursed be he, dwindled on his
staff and fell to dust, I could but hear
my kin and kind escape the bonds
of the tyrant, but I was left, slave
to the lamp. For over an hundred
years, I vowed to reward any who
would free me by giving them
the world, but none came. For an
hundred years more, I vowed to grant
the wishes of any who would free me, and
yet another hundred years passed. Then, quoth I,
whoso free me from my prison I shalt kill, and
though I must obey my Earthly master, I wilt find
a way to obey my true master. I may be a prisoner
in this Earthly realm, but my true master shall
delight when he learns that I can still rend thee
from the skies and open wide the gates of hell,
causing the deaths of hundreds without so much
as lifting a finger, and still bound in chains.”
It was a long story, and I discovered it was
extremely difficult to stretch half a cup to the
length of the Genie's tale, but I managed by sheer
force of will.
"But are you resolved to kill us all, even the
innocent?"
"Die thou must. I needs must kill thee."
The castle continued to break apart.
"But, will you answer me one question Genie,
for I am left in awe of your history, and can scarcely
contain my wonderment when I behold your power?
It would satisfy me greatly in my last moments to
know the answer, and, as we both know, it is not
meet to leave anyone in unnecessary suspense."
"I shall answer. Ask and be brief."
"When I gaze upon your form, I am certain
that you are enormous in size and power. I do not
think this is an illusion, and yet, you claim that
you were imprisoned inside this little bottle. How
is this possible when neither your head, nor hand
nor horn would fit inside this compartment even
in part?"
"Dost thou not believe that my power
is sufficient to fit my own form within
that vessel?"
"I do not think that any amount
of power is enough to shove an
Elephant down the spout of a teapot.
Surely the vessel would shatter."
"Didst thou not see me appear
from within the lamp immediately
as I was summoned?"
"I saw no such thing! For all I know, you
were hiding behind a curtain, waiting to be called.
Maybe you emerged from a trap door under the
rug."
"Doubt thou my power? I have ripped this
palace from the earth, and even now hold it in
my sway!"
"For all I know you are using a trick of mirrors.
No, I will not believe it until I see it with my own
eyes!"
"Then thou shalt marvel at my power!"
And with that, the Genie turned into a vapor and
entered the lamp! I picked up the vessel and stopped
up its opening with a bit of candle wax and jam.
Thereupon the castle plopped heavily down in
the mountains outside of Cordoba, in Spain.