There was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a pigsty, close by the seaside. The fisherman went out every day to fish, and one day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, watching the sparkling waves, his float was suddenly dragged deep into the water. When he reeled in his line, he pulled out a golden fish.
But the fish said, “Please let me live! I’m not a real fish. I’m an enchanted prince. Put me back in the water and let me go!”
“Oh ho!” said the man. “You don’t need to say more. I want nothing to do with a fish that can talk! Swim away, sir, as you please!”
And so he put the fish back into the sea, and it darted straight down to the bottom, leaving a streak of red behind on the waves.
When the fisherman returned home to his wife in the pigsty, he told her how he had caught a golden fish, how it had spoken to him, and how he had let it go.
“Did you not ask it for anything?” said the wife. “We live so miserably in this dirty pigsty. Go back and tell the fish we want a snug little cottage.”
The fisherman didn’t like the idea, but he went back to the seashore. This time, the water looked yellow and green. He stood at the water’s edge and called out:
O magic fish of the sea! Hear me! Hear me! My wife Ilsabill will have her own will, And she sent me to beg a gift from you!
The fish swam up and said, “Well, what does she want now?”
“She says she doesn’t want to live in the pigsty any more. She wants a snug little cottage,” said the man.
“Go home then,” said the fish. “She is already in the cottage!”
So the fisherman went home, and there stood his wife at the door of a tidy little cottage. It had a parlour, a bedroom, a kitchen, a flower garden, and a yard full of chickens and ducks.
“Come in, come in!” said his wife. “Isn’t this better than the filthy pigsty?”
“Yes,” said the fisherman. “We’ll be happy now.”
“We’ll see,” said she.
But after a week, Dame Ilsabill frowned. “This cottage is far too small. I want a stone castle with servants and golden gates. Go back to the fish and ask for a castle!”
“Wife,” said the fisherman, “the fish has already done much for us. We should be content.”
“Nonsense!” said the wife. “He’ll do it. Go and ask!”
So the man went, though his heart was heavy. The sea looked grey and gloomy. He stood near the waves and called out:
O magic fish of the sea! Hear me! Hear me! My wife Ilsabill will have her own will, And she sent me to beg a gift from you!
The fish came up and asked, “What does she want now?”
“She wants to live in a stone castle,” the man replied sadly.
“Go home,” said the fish. “She is already there.”
Sure enough, when the fisherman returned, there stood a grand castle with towers, gates, and gardens. His wife stood proudly at the door, surrounded by servants.
“See?” she said. “Isn’t this grand?”
“Yes,” said the fisherman. “Now we can live in peace.”
But Dame Ilsabill was not satisfied for long. One morning, as she looked out at the sun rising, she scowled. “Even as queen, I cannot command the sun or moon. I must be lord of the sun and moon!”
“Wife!” gasped the fisherman. “That is too much! The fish has already given us so much.”
“Not everything!” she snapped. “Go! I must rule the sky!”
So the fisherman, trembling with fear, went down to the sea once more. The sky was black, the wind howled, and the sea roared with giant waves. Thunder cracked and lightning flashed.
Still, he called out:
O magic fish of the sea! Hear me! Hear me! My wife Ilsabill will have her own will, And she sent me to beg a gift from you!
The golden fish leapt from the waves, its eyes burning with fury. Its voice boomed like thunder:
“Your wife is never satisfied! She wishes to rule the very sky? I gave her gifts out of kindness, but her greed has no end. Go home, to your pigsty again!”
And with a great splash, the fish vanished into the deep.
The fisherman ran home through the storm, heart pounding. And when he arrived, there was no castle, no garden, no chickens or ducks. Only the old muddy pigsty. His wife sat in the straw, clothes torn, her face pale and wet with tears.
“I was foolish,” she whispered. “I was greedy. I wanted more and more, and now we have nothing.”
The fisherman sat beside her and said gently, “Perhaps now we’ll remember to be thankful, for what we have, and for each other.”
And there, in the little pigsty, they lived out their days.
No longer rich, but a little wiser.