The Fisherman and the Fish

The Fisherman and the Fish

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife, in Russia. They were poor and lived in an old, mud hut near the sea. He made a living by fishing. One morning, something unusual happened while the man was at work. He caught a small, golden fish in his net. The fish begged the fisherman to let him go and offered to grant the fisherman anything he desired in return. However, the man was kind and asked for nothing before returning the fish to the sea.

The man went home and told his wife about the wonderful thing that had happened to him. She shouted at him angrily and called him a fool for not making a wish. She sent him back to the sea to catch the fish and ask for a new bucket because theirs was broken. The sun was shining as the man did this and when he returned, he saw a new bucket. The fisherman's wife was still not happy and demanded that he should find the fish again to ask for a new house. The weather was getting bad as the man explained to the fish about his rude wife. The fish comforted him and promised to grant the second wish. When he returned, he saw a nice, new cottage.

The next day, his wife said that she wanted to be mayor of the city. The waves were getting big and the sky was becoming dark as the man apologized to the golden fish. Again, like the wishes before, this wish was granted. When he returned, he found his wife dressed in expensive clothes and giving orders to servants. She told her husband that he still had to sleep in the hut even though she now had a bigger house. She was a very greedy woman and the following week she demanded to be made queen of all the land. Despite thinking his wife was crazy, the fisherman went down to the shore. By now there was a terrible storm. There was thunder and lightning, and giant waves in the sea. The man shouted as loudly as he could so that the fish could hear him. This time the fish did not reply and turned around to swim out to sea. The fisherman waited but the golden fish never came back. When the man returned, he found his wife in the old, mud hut holding