The Enchanted King of the Black …

This moral story for children ages 6-12 combines entertainment with important values.

The old fisherman’s hands trembled as he pulled his net from the sea. For three days, he’d caught nothing. But this time, four magnificent fish gleamed in his net—one black, one white, one red, one yellow.

“These are no ordinary fish!” he gasped. He hurried to the sultan’s palace.

When the sultan saw the miraculous fish, his eyes widened. “Extraordinary! Cook these for tonight’s feast!” He gave the fisherman a hundred gold coins.

The royal cook set the fish sizzling in a pan. But just as they began to turn golden, the kitchen wall cracked open! Through the impossible opening stepped a beautiful young woman, her eyes blazing like green fire.

“Fish, fish, are you keeping your promise?” she asked.

The dead fish lifted their heads and sang: “Yes, yes! If you keep faith, we keep faith!”

The woman flipped the pan over and disappeared. The fish lay charred and ruined. The cook fainted from shock.

The sultan refused to believe it. “Bring me four more fish!” The fisherman caught four more, and the sultan ordered his vizier to cook them. But when they sizzled, the wall burst open again! This time, a massive warrior emerged.

“Fish, fish, are you keeping your promise?” he rumbled.

Again, the fish chanted: “Yes, yes! If you keep faith, we keep faith!” The warrior kicked the pan into the fire and vanished.

“There’s magic at work here!” the sultan declared. “Show me where you caught these fish!”

The fisherman led him to a perfectly round lake nestled between four colored mountains—black, white, red, and yellow. The sultan rode around the lake and discovered a magnificent but eerily silent palace.

Inside, he found a young king on a golden throne. Where his legs should have been, there was only cold, gray stone.

“What happened to you?” the sultan asked.

The king’s voice shook. “I once ruled a prosperous kingdom with four cities. I married a beautiful princess whom I loved deeply. For five years, we were happy. Or so I thought.

“One night, I pretended to sleep but watched. My wife rose from our bed, mixed a strange potion, and left the palace. I followed her to a ruined hut where I saw her with another man—a slave! She kissed him and spoke words of love.

“Rage and heartbreak exploded in my chest. I drew my sword and struck the slave down, leaving him for dead. The next morning, my wife said her beloved was ill and needed special care. I agreed, not knowing she was a powerful enchantress. She used dark magic to keep the dying slave alive.

“When she discovered I had wounded him, she gave me poisoned wine. My body turned to stone from the waist down! But her cruelty didn’t end there. She cursed my entire kingdom! Every person was transformed into a fish—Muslims became white, Christians became red, Jews became yellow, Zoroastrians became black. Every night, she beats me with a whip!”

The sultan’s blood boiled. “This injustice must be corrected! Where is this enchantress?”

“By day, she sits beside her dying slave in the chamber beneath us.”

That night, the sultan crept down to the underground room and ended the slave’s cursed existence. Then he lay in the bed himself, covering his face with the slave’s hood.

When the enchantress arrived, she gasped. “My love! You’re awake!”

The sultan disguised his voice. “Your guilt torments me. Release your husband from his stone prison. Let the people swim free as fish no more. Only then can I heal completely.”

The enchantress ran to fetch magical water. She sprinkled it over her husband, and the stone melted away! Then she ran to the lake and spoke an incantation. The fish leaped and twisted, transforming back into people! The four mountains crumbled, revealing the four cities!

She hurried back to her beloved’s chamber, but when she pulled back the hood, she found the sultan with his sword drawn! Realizing her love was dead and her curses broken, she screamed in rage. But she had used all her power. Her dark magic consumed her from within, turning her to ash.

The young king fell to his knees in gratitude. “You’ve saved me and my people!”

“Rule wisely and justly,” the sultan replied. “That is payment enough.”

The young king’s people celebrated for forty days. He learned from his painful lesson, choosing his next wife carefully—looking for kindness, honesty, and a gentle heart. The sultan returned home, rewarding the fisherman with a title and a house.

And whenever the sultan told the story of the enchanted kingdom and the four magical fish, people would remember: betrayal and dark magic may seem powerful, but truth and justice will always prevail.