The Fisherman and His Wife

Once upon a time, there lived a fisherman in a little hut by the sea.
One day, he fished from sunrise to sunset without so much as a bite. Just as he was about to stop for the night, there came a sudden jerk on his line. He pulled up a large flounder.
“Good fisherman,” cried the flounder, “please let me go. I am not a real fish, but a prince who has been changed into this shape. Put me back into the water and let me swim away.”
“That I will,” said the fisherman. “I would rather let go of a flounder that can speak than keep it.”
He put the fish back in the water. It swam away, leaving a streak of blood. Then the fisherman went home with empty hands.

“Husband,” said his wife, “have you caught nothing all day?”
“Nothing but a flounder,” he said. “It spoke and told me it was a prince who had been changed into that shape. So I threw it back into the water, as it asked me to do.”
“Did you not make a wish?” said his wife.
“No,” he said. “What should I wish for?”
“Why, for many things, you silly man. For a better house than this hut, for one. What a pity you did not think of that! No doubt he could have given you anything you asked for. Go and call him now. Perhaps it is not too late.”

To please his wife the fisherman went down to the shore. He stood for a while looking at the water, which was green and dark.
Then he said,
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
Come, I pray, and talk to me
For my wife, Dame Isabel,
Sent me here a tale to tell.”
The fish came swimming up and said, “What do you want with me?”
“Ah,” said the man, “today I caught you and let you go again. My wife is angry because I did not ask you to grant a wish. She says she wants a better house than our poor hut.”
“Go home, man,” said the flounder. “Your wife has her wish.”

The fisherman went back home. Instead of his old hut, he found a pretty little cottage. At the door sat his wife, looking very happy.
“Come in,” she cried to her husband. “See what a pleasant home we have.”
They went from one room to another. There was a pretty little bedroom. The sitting room had flowers at the window and pictures on the wall. In the kitchen were vessels of earthenware and tin and copper. Outside was a little farmyard where hens and chickens were running about. Beyond was a garden, full of fruit and vegetables.
“See,” said the wife, “is it not pretty?”
“Oh, yes,“ answered her husband, “it is beautiful. As long as it is new, you will be content. After that, we shall see.”
“Yes, we shall see,” said the wife.

A few days passed. Then she said, “Husband, this cottage with its yard and garden is too small for us. If the flounder is a prince, he could give us a large house as well as a small one. I wish, above all things, to live in a castle built of stone. Go to your fish and tell him so.”
“Ah, wife,” said the fisherman, “this cottage is good enough for us. The flounder may be angry if I go to him with another wish.”
“Do as I tell you,” said the wife. “The fish can give us a castle if he will. Go and ask him for it.”
“This is not right,” said the fisherman.

But his wife urged him so that he went down to the shore. The water was dark blue, but very still.
The fisherman said,
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
Come, I pray, and talk to me,
For my wife, Dame Isabel,
Wishes what I fear to tell.”
“Now, then, what do you want?” asked the fish, raising his head above the water.
“Oh,“ said the fisherman, “my wife wishes to live in a great stone castle.”
“Go home, and you will find her there,” was the answer.

The fisherman hastened home. Where the cottage had been was a great stone castle. His wife stood on the steps.
“Come with me,” she said. “See what a grand house we have.”
They went into a marble hall, where many servants stood waiting.
They passed from one room to another, admiring the velvet carpets and the great mirrors and the hangings of silk and gold. Outside the castle was a courtyard, in which were stables full of horses and carriages. There was a great garden set with flowers and fruits. In the fields and woods, cows and sheep and deer were feeding.
“Well,” said the wife, “is not this beautiful?”
“Yes, indeed,” said the husband. “But you will not think so once it is no longer new to you. I fear you will then want something else.”
“I will think about that,” said the wife.

For a little while, she was happy and proud in her new home. But one morning she rose in a bad temper, and nothing seemed to please her.
“Why did I wish for so little?” she said crossly. “We might as well be lords over all this country, instead of having just one castle. Go to your fish and ask to be king.”
“Ah, wife,” said the husband, “I do not wish to be king. I cannot go and ask that.”
“If you do not wish to be king, I do wish to be queen,” she said. “Go at once and tell the fish what I say.”

The husband turned sadly away.
“It is not right,” he said to himself, but he went down to the shore. He found the water dark and rough. The waves foamed and dashed as if they were angry. Still he said,
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
Come, I pray, and talk to me,
For my wife, Dame Isabel,
Wishes what I fear to tell.”
The flounder came and the fisherman told his wife's wish.
“What!” said the fish, “she is not content? Well, she shall have this wish, also. Go home, and you will find her queen.”

The fisherman went home and found that the castle was gone. Far away, he saw a palace, very large and beautiful. Flags were flying from its towers, and soldiers were marching up and down in front of it. He went to it, and walked through long halls and handsome rooms. At last, he came to a large hall in which there was a throne of gold. Here sat his wife, with a crown upon her head.
Her dress was of cloth of gold, and around her were lords and ladies.
“Ah, wife,” he said, “so you are queen now?”
“Yes,” she answered, “I am queen.”
He stood looking at her for a long time. Then he spoke again.
“Well, wife, of one thing I am glad. Now that you are queen, you will be content. There is nothing left for you to wish for.”
“We shall see about that,” she said.

As time passed, the fisherman's wife found less and less pleasure in being queen. She lay awake at night, wondering if there was not something more for which she could wish.
After one sleepless night she rose early and stood at the window. The sky was pink with dawn. Little by little it grew golden, and then the sun rose. It was a beautiful sight.
“Oh,” she said, “I would like to have the power to make the sun rise. I wish to rule the sun and the moon. Husband, husband, wake up!” she cried. “Go at once to the fish and tell him that I wish to rule the sun and the moon.”
The husband was so frightened that he tumbled out of bed.
“Wife, wife! What did you say?” he asked.
“I wish to rule the sun and the moon,” she said. "Go at once and tell the flounder.” But he fell on his knees before her.
“Do not make such a wish as that,” he cried. “It is wrong. There is only one who can rule the sun and the moon.”

At this, his wife was so angry that she drove him out of the door. The poor fisherman went down to the shore. A great storm had come up, and the sea was quite black. The angry waves rolled to and fro and dashed against the rocks.
Hardly knowing what he did, the fisherman said the old words again,
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
Come, I pray, and talk to me,
For my wife, Dame Isabel,
Wishes what I fear to tell.”
When the fish rose, the fisherman cried, “Oh, what shall I do? My wife wishes to rule the sun and the moon.”
“There is only one who can do that,” replied the fish.
“Go home. You will find your wife in your old hut by the sea.”

Sure enough, the grand palace was gone. There was the old hut, which seemed smaller and poorer than ever. At the door sat his wife, in an old, ragged dress. And in the poor old hut she had to stay, thanks to her discontent.