THE MAGIC SILVER FISH
Once upon a time there lived in Spain a fisherman named Pedro. He was very poor and lived with his wife in a small wooden hut, close to the sea- shore. He worked very hard to make a living, but he was quite happy. His wife, however, grumbled all day long about how poor they were and what a terrible home they had to live in.
“You must do better at your work,” she told Pedro, one morning. “You must catch more and more fish to sell in the market. Then perhaps, we can move from this wooden hut to a cottage made of stone. I am sure we could do it, if
only you were not so lazy.” The fisherman sighed. He was not lazy at all. From dawn until dusk, he would stand on the rocks, casting his line into the sea until his arms ached. The trouble was that there were very few fish around that part of the coast to be caught.
On that day, however, when his wife had grumbled even more than ever, the fisherman threw out his line and at once caught a fish so huge that the rod bent under its weight.
The fish struggled to get free.
The fisherman struggled even harder to get it to the shore. At last he was able to do this and to his great surprise, he saw that the great fish was completely silver in colour from its mouth to the tip of its tail.
More to his surprise, was the fact that the fish could speak. “Be kind, fisherman Pedro, I beg of you,” said the fish. “Please let me go and I promise that in return I will give you a great reward, because I am a magic silver fish.”
At first, Pedro had no thought of giving up his splendid catch, but after the great silver fish had pleaded again to be let free, he unhooked it and pushed it back into the sea, where it at once swam out of sight.
Pedro went back home and told his wife of this strange adventure. When he got to the part about the fish promi- sing him a reward, his wife said in a shrill voice, “You silly, foolish man. Go back to the seashore at once and ask the fish for a house instead of this wooden hut.”
Pedro went back and spoke to the silver fish. “That is not a very big thing to wish for,” it said. “Return home and you will see some of my magic.”
When he reached home, Pedro was delighted to see his wife sitting at the front door of a pleasant-looking house.
For some days she was satis- fied with her new home, but one moring, she started grum- bling again. “This is not really enough,” she told her fisherman husband. “What I really wan ted was a castle and servants to work for me. Go at once and tell the big fish so.”
Poor Pedro had to return to the shore, call the fish and ex- plain his wife’s new wish. The magic silver fish just waved one of its fins and replied, “Your wish is granted, fisher- man Pedro. Return home and you will see.”
When Pedro returned, he found his wife taking a walk in the beautiful grounds of a splen- did castle, with tame peacocks fluttering all around her.
By next day, the wife was tired of the castle and made Pedro go to the silver fish with a demand that she be made a Queen in a royal palace. The fish, agreeing, said, “Very well, your wish is granted. Go back and see.”
On returning, Pedro found instead of a castle, a marvellous palace with turrets and towers. In a grand hall, he found his wife sitting on a golden throne.
“Ah, now she will be happy,” he thought, but he was wrong. By the afternoon, she was again grumbling. “Now I want to be the Empress of all the world,” she said.
Pedro had to return yet once more and tell the magic silver fish of his wife’s desire to be Empress of the world.
“Very well,” said the fish. “Your wife’s wish will be granted. Go back and see.”
Now, Pedro saw an ever lar- ger palace, built of precious marble, with a whole roof of solid gold. Going into the beautiful rooms, the humble fisherman found his wife sitting on a huge golden throne, six feet high. She was wearing a dress covered wih diamonds and pearls. She was talking and laughing with a crowd of gay princes and dukes.
The new Empress of all the world was happy, until the follo- wing morning, when she looked out of the window.
“What a horrid day,” she grumbled. “See how ugly and cloudy the sky is. It makes me feel miserable. Go to the fish at once and say that I want to be the most important person in Heaven, so that I can make
the sun shine whenever I wish.” As she spoke, a frightening storm arose. Rain, sleet and snow came slashing down from the black sky. Trees bent to the ground under the force of a howling wind and even the rocks trembled in the crashing rough seas.
Amidst thunder and light- ning, Pedro made his way to the seashore. He found the fish and shouted to it, explaining his wife’s wish.
“Go home and you will find that she has, been given a true reward,” the magic silver fish replied. With a sudden quick
twist, it turned and disappeared into the black and stormy sea. The fisherman returned. The splendid palace had dis- appeared. Pedro’s. wife, dressed in tattered clothes, was sitting on a stool in front of their old wooden hut.
Because of her greed, she was back where she started, but at least the magic silver fish had done Pedro a good turn, for his wife never grumbled again.