The Story of the Fisherman

From The Arabian Nights Entertainments, collected by Andrew Lang

This reader is drawn from The Arabian Nights Entertainments, also known as One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled over many centuries. Andrew Lang published this English version in the late nineteenth century as part of his coloured fairy book series. The frame structure of the original—where one story leads into another—is reflected here: the fisherman's tale ends as he begins to tell the genius yet another story, a characteristic device of the source. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story rewards the reader with a timeless lesson: that wit and presence of mind can be more powerful than size or strength, and that kindness must sometimes be tempered with caution.

Band

Blue · Independent readers, confident, about 10 to 12

Length

long · about 1064 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Andrew Lang · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.