The fisherman’s motivation for asking the genius if he really was in the vase is to try to find a way to stay alive. He is attempting to buy time and delay his fate by challenging the genius's statement, hoping to find a way out of his predicament.
Read the passage from a story in The Arabian Nights Entertainments.
The fisherman was very unhappy. "What an unlucky man I am to have freed you! I implore you to spare my life."
"I have told you," said the genius, "that it is impossible. Choose quickly; you are wasting time."
The fisherman began to devise a plot.
"Since I must die," he said, "before I choose the manner of my death, I conjure you on your honour to tell me if you really were in that vase?"
"Yes, I was," answered the genius.
"I really cannot believe it," said the fisherman. "That vase could not contain one of your feet even, and how could your whole body go in? I cannot believe it unless I see you do the thing."
Then the genius began to change himself into smoke, which, as before, spread over the sea and the shore, and which, then collecting itself together, began to go back into the vase slowly and evenly till there was nothing left outside. Then a voice came from the vase which said to the fisherman, "Well, unbelieving fisherman, here I am in the vase; do you believe me now?"
What is the fisherman’s motivation for asking the genius (genie) if he really was in the vase?
to make the genius (genie) grant him three wishes
to try to find a way to stay alive
to see if the genius (genie) was lying
to have more time before the genius (genie) kills him
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