Courtesy
of the Brothers Grimm. A very good tale that teaches of the dangers
of unrestrained desire. "If only I had this thing, then I would
really be happy." And the end of it all is, we figure if
we were God, we could run things better. The condition of the sea is
a marvelous image for the state of the wife's soul. If you haven't
read it before, it's worth your time.
There
was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a pigsty, close by
the seaside. The fisherman used to go out all day long a-fishing; and
one day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the
sparkling waves and watching his line, all on a sudden his float was
dragged away deep into the water: and in drawing it up he pulled out
a great fish. But the fish said, ’Pray let me live! I am not a real
fish; I am an enchanted prince: put me in the water again, and let me
go!’
’Oh,
ho!’ said the man, ’you need not make so many words about the
matter; I will have nothing to do with a fish that can talk: so swim
away, sir, as soon as you please!’ Then he put him back into the
water, and the fish darted straight down to the bottom, and left a
long streak of blood behind him on the wave.
When
the fisherman went home to his wife in the pigsty, he told her how he
had caught a great fish, and how it had told him it was an enchanted
prince, and how, on hearing it speak, he had let it go again. ’Did
not you ask it for anything?’ said the wife, ’we live very
wretchedly here, in this nasty dirty pigsty; do go back and tell the
fish we want a snug little cottage.’
The
fisherman did not much like the business: however, he went to the
seashore; and when he came back there the water looked all yellow and
green. And he stood at the water’s edge, and said:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
Then
the fish came swimming to him, and said, ’Well, what is her will?
What does your wife want?’ ’Ah!’ said the fisherman, ’she
says that when I had caught you, I ought to have asked you for
something before I let you go; she does not like living any longer in
the pigsty, and wants a snug little cottage.’ ’Go home, then,’
said the fish; ’she is in the cottage already!’
So
the man went home, and saw his wife standing at the door of a nice
trim little cottage. ’Come in, come in!’ said she; ’is not this
much better than the filthy pigsty we had?’ And there was a
parlour, and a bedchamber, and a kitchen; and behind the cottage
there was a little garden, planted with all sorts of flowers and
fruits; and there was a courtyard behind, full of ducks and chickens.
’Ah!’ said the fisherman, ’how happily we shall live now!’
’We will try to do so, at least,’ said his wife.
Everything
went right for a week or two, and then Dame Ilsabill said, ’Husband,
there is not near room enough for us in this cottage; the courtyard
and the garden are a great deal too small; I should like to have a
large stone castle to live in: go to the fish again and tell him to
give us a castle.’
’Wife,’
said the fisherman, ’I don’t like to go to him again, for perhaps
he will be angry; we ought to be easy with this pretty cottage to
live in.’ ’Nonsense!’ said the wife; ’he will do it very
willingly, I know; go along and try!’
The
fisherman went, but his heart was very heavy: and when he came to the
sea, it looked blue and gloomy, though it was very calm; and he went
close to the edge of the waves, and said:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
’Well,
what does she want now?’ said the fish. ’Ah!’ said the man,
dolefully, ’my wife wants to live in a stone castle.’ ’Go home,
then,’ said the fish; ’she is standing at the gate of it
already.’ So away went the fisherman, and found his wife standing
before the gate of a great castle. ’See,’ said she, ’is not
this grand?’ With that they went into the castle together, and
found a great many servants there, and the rooms all richly
furnished, and full of golden chairs and tables; and behind the
castle was a garden, and around it was a park half a mile long, full
of sheep, and goats, and hares, and deer; and in the courtyard were
stables and cow-houses.
’Well,’
said the man, ’now we will live cheerful and happy in this
beautiful castle for the rest of our lives.’ ’Perhaps we may,’
said the wife; ’but let us sleep upon it, before we make up our
minds to that.’ So they went to bed.
The
next morning when Dame Ilsabill awoke it was broad daylight, and she
jogged the fisherman with her elbow, and said, ’Get up, husband,
and bestir yourself, for we must be king of all the land.’ ’Wife,
wife,’ said the man, ’why should we wish to be the king? I will
not be king.’ ’Then I will,’ said she. ’But, wife,’ said
the fisherman, ’how can you be king–the fish cannot make you a
king?’ ’Husband,’ said she, ’say no more about it, but go and
try! I will be king.’
So
the man went away quite sorrowful to think that his wife should want
to be king. This time the sea looked a dark grey colour, and was
overspread with curling waves and the ridges of foam as he cried out:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
’Well,
what would she have now?’ said the fish. ’Alas!’ said the poor
man, ’my wife wants to be king.’ ’Go home,’ said the fish;
’she is king already.’
Then
the fisherman went home; and as he came close to the palace he saw a
troop of soldiers, and heard the sound of drums and trumpets. And
when he went in he saw his wife sitting on a throne of gold and
diamonds, with a golden crown upon her head; and on each side of her
stood six fair maidens, each a head taller than the other.
’Well,
wife,’ said the fisherman, ’are you king?’ ’Yes,’ said she,
’I am king.’ And when he had looked at her for a long time, he
said, ’Ah, wife! what a fine thing it is to be king! Now we shall
never have anything more to wish for as long as we live.’
’I
don’t know how that may be,’ said she; ’never is a long time. I
am king, it is true; but I begin to be tired of that, and I think I
should like to be emperor.’ ’Alas, wife! why should you wish to
be emperor?’ said the fisherman. ’Husband,’ said she, ’go to
the fish! I say I will be emperor.’ ’Ah, wife!’ replied the
fisherman, ’the fish cannot make an emperor, I am sure, and I
should not like to ask him for such a thing.’ ’I am king,’ said
Ilsabill, ’and you are my slave; so go at once!’
So
the fisherman was forced to go; and he muttered as he went along,
’This will come to no good, it is too much to ask; the fish will be
tired at last, and then we shall be sorry for what we have done.’
He soon came to the seashore; and the water was quite black and
muddy, and a mighty whirlwind blew over the waves and rolled them
about, but he went as near as he could to the water’s brink, and
said:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
’What
would she have now?’ said the fish. ’Ah!’ said the fisherman,
’she wants to be emperor.’ ’Go home,’ said the fish; ’she
is emperor already.’
So
he went home again; and as he came near he saw his wife Ilsabill
sitting on a very lofty throne made of solid gold, with a great crown
on her head full two yards high; and on each side of her stood her
guards and attendants in a row, each one smaller than the other, from
the tallest giant down to a little dwarf no bigger than my finger.
And before her stood princes, and dukes, and earls: and the fisherman
went up to her and said, ’Wife, are you emperor?’
’Yes,’
said she, ’I am emperor.’ ’Ah!’ said the man, as he gazed
upon her, ’what a fine thing it is to be emperor!’ ’Husband,’
said she, ’why should we stop at being emperor? I will be pope
next.’ ’O wife, wife!’ said he, ’how can you be pope? there
is but one pope at a time in Christendom.’ ’Husband,’ said she,
’I will be pope this very day.’ ’But,’ replied the husband,
’the fish cannot make you pope.’ ’What nonsense!’ said she;
’if he can make an emperor, he can make a pope: go and try him.’
So
the fisherman went. But when he came to the shore the wind was raging
and the sea was tossed up and down in boiling waves, and the ships
were in trouble, and rolled fearfully upon the tops of the billows.
In the middle of the heavens there was a little piece of blue sky,
but towards the south all was red, as if a dreadful storm was rising.
At this sight the fisherman was dreadfully frightened, and he
trembled so that his knees knocked together: but still he went down
near to the shore, and said:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
’What
does she want now?’ said the fish. ’Ah!’ said the fisherman,
’my wife wants to be pope.’ ’Go home,’ said the fish; ’she
is pope already.’
Then
the fisherman went home, and found Ilsabill sitting on a throne that
was two miles high. And she had three great crowns on her head, and
around her stood all the pomp and power of the Church. And on each
side of her were two rows of burning lights, of all sizes, the
greatest as large as the highest and biggest tower in the world, and
the least no larger than a small rushlight.
’Wife,’
said the fisherman, as he looked at all this greatness, ’are you
pope?’ ’Yes,’ said she, ’I am pope.’ ’Well, wife,’
replied he, ’it is a grand thing to be pope; and now you must be
easy, for you can be nothing greater.’ ’I will think about that,’
said the wife.
Then
they went to bed: but Dame Ilsabill could not sleep all night for
thinking what she should be next. At last, as she was dropping
asleep, morning broke, and the sun rose. ’Ha!’ thought she, as
she woke up and looked at it through the window, ’after all I
cannot prevent the sun rising.’ At this thought she was very angry,
and wakened her husband, and said, ’Husband, go to the fish and
tell him I must be lord of the sun and moon.’
The
fisherman was half asleep, but the thought frightened him so much
that he started and fell out of bed. ’Alas, wife!’ said he,
’cannot you be easy with being pope?’ ’No,’ said she, ’I am
very uneasy as long as the sun and moon rise without my leave. Go to
the fish at once!’
Then
the man went shivering with fear; and as he was going down to the
shore a dreadful storm arose, so that the trees and the very rocks
shook. And all the heavens became black with stormy clouds, and the
lightnings played, and the thunders rolled; and you might have seen
in the sea great black waves, swelling up like mountains with crowns
of white foam upon their heads. And the fisherman crept towards the
sea, and cried out, as well as he could:
’O
man of the sea!
Hearken
to me!
My
wife Ilsabill
Will
have her own will,
And
hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!’
’What
does she want now?’ said the fish. ’Ah!’ said he, ’she wants
to be lord of the sun and moon.’ ’Go home,’ said the fish, ’to
your pigsty again.’
And
there they live to this very day.
In
some versions of the story, the man's final request is that his wife
be happy. He returns home to find the old pigsty again, but this time
his wife is content, and they live happily ever after.
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