There was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a pigsty, closeby the seaside. The fisherman used to go out all day long a-fishing; andone day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the sparklingwaves and watching his line, all on a sudden his float was dragged awaydeep 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 anenchanted 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 willhave nothing to do with a fish that can talk: so swim away, sir, as soonas you please!' Then he put him back into the water, and the fish dartedstraight down to the bottom, and left a long streak of blood behind himon the wave.

When the fisherman went home to his wife in the pigsty, he told her howhe had caught a great fish, and how it had told him it was an enchantedprince, and how, on hearing it speak, he had let it go again. 'Did notyou 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 snuglittle cottage.'

The fisherman did not much like the business: however, he went to theseashore; and when he came back there the water looked all yellow andgreen. 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 whenI had caught you, I ought to have asked you for something before I letyou go; she does not like living any longer in the pigsty, and wantsa snug little cottage.' 'Go home, then,' said the fish; 'she is in thecottage already!' So the man went home, and saw his wife standing at thedoor of a nice trim little cottage. 'Come in, come in!' said she; 'isnot this much better than the filthy pigsty we had?' And there was aparlour, and a bedchamber, and a kitchen; and behind the cottage therewas a little garden, planted with all sorts of flowers and fruits; andthere was a courtyard behind, full of ducks and chickens. 'Ah!' said thefisherman, 'how happily we shall live now!' 'We will try to do so, atleast,' 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; thecourtyard and the garden are a great deal too small; I should like tohave a large stone castle to live in: go to the fish again and tell himto give us a castle.' 'Wife,' said the fisherman, 'I don't like to go tohim again, for perhaps he will be angry; we ought to be easy with thispretty cottage to live in.' 'Nonsense!' said the wife; 'he will do itvery willingly, I know; go along and try!'

The fisherman went, but his heart was very heavy: and when he came tothe sea, it looked blue and gloomy, though it was very calm; and he wentclose 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 wentthe fisherman, and found his wife standing before the gate of a greatcastle. 'See,' said she, 'is not this grand?' With that they went intothe castle together, and found a great many servants there, and therooms all richly furnished, and full of golden chairs and tables; andbehind the castle was a garden, and around it was a park half amile long, full of sheep, and goats, and hares, and deer; and in thecourtyard were stables and cow-houses. 'Well,' said the man, 'now wewill live cheerful and happy in this beautiful castle for the rest ofour 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, andshe 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 yoube king--the fish cannot make you a king?' 'Husband,' said she, 'sayno more about it, but go and try! I will be king.' So the man went awayquite sorrowful to think that his wife should want to be king. This timethe sea looked a dark grey colour, and was overspread with curling wavesand 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 poorman, 'my wife wants to be king.' 'Go home,' said the fish; 'she is kingalready.'

Then the fisherman went home; and as he came close to the palace he sawa troop of soldiers, and heard the sound of drums and trumpets. And whenhe 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 sixfair maidens, each a head taller than the other. 'Well, wife,' said thefisherman, 'are you king?' 'Yes,' said she, 'I am king.' And when he hadlooked at her for a long time, he said, 'Ah, wife! what a fine thing itis to be king! Now we shall never have anything more to wish for as longas we live.' 'I don't know how that may be,' said she; 'never is a longtime. I am king, it is true; but I begin to be tired of that, and Ithink I should like to be emperor.' 'Alas, wife! why should you wish tobe emperor?' said the fisherman. 'Husband,' said she, 'go to the fish!I say I will be emperor.' 'Ah, wife!' replied the fisherman, 'the fishcannot make an emperor, I am sure, and I should not like to ask him forsuch a thing.' 'I am king,' said Ilsabill, 'and you are my slave; so goat 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 betired at last, and then we shall be sorry for what we have done.' Hesoon came to the seashore; and the water was quite black and muddy, anda mighty whirlwind blew over the waves and rolled them about, but hewent 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 emperoralready.'

So he went home again; and as he came near he saw his wife Ilsabillsitting on a very lofty throne made of solid gold, with a great crown onher head full two yards high; and on each side of her stood her guardsand attendants in a row, each one smaller than the other, from thetallest giant down to a little dwarf no bigger than my finger. Andbefore her stood princes, and dukes, and earls: and the fisherman wentup to her and said, 'Wife, are you emperor?' 'Yes,' said she, 'I amemperor.' 'Ah!' said the man, as he gazed upon her, 'what a fine thingit is to be emperor!' 'Husband,' said she, 'why should we stop at beingemperor? I will be pope next.' 'O wife, wife!' said he, 'how can you bepope? there is but one pope at a time in Christendom.' 'Husband,' saidshe, 'I will be pope this very day.' 'But,' replied the husband, 'thefish cannot make you pope.' 'What nonsense!' said she; 'if he can makean emperor, he can make a pope: go and try him.'

So the fisherman went. But when he came to the shore the wind was ragingand the sea was tossed up and down in boiling waves, and the ships werein trouble, and rolled fearfully upon the tops of the billows. In themiddle of the heavens there was a little piece of blue sky, but towardsthe south all was red, as if a dreadful storm was rising. At this sightthe fisherman was dreadfully frightened, and he trembled so that hisknees knocked together: but still he went down near to the shore, andsaid:

'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, 'mywife wants to be pope.' 'Go home,' said the fish; 'she is pope already.'

Then the fisherman went home, and found Ilsabill sitting on a thronethat was two miles high. And she had three great crowns on her head, andaround her stood all the pomp and power of the Church. And on each sideof her were two rows of burning lights, of all sizes, the greatest aslarge as the highest and biggest tower in the world, and the least nolarger than a small rushlight. 'Wife,' said the fisherman, as he lookedat 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 nowyou must be easy, for you can be nothing greater.' 'I will think aboutthat,' said the wife. Then they went to bed: but Dame Ilsabill could notsleep all night for thinking what she should be next. At last, as shewas 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 cannotprevent the sun rising.' At this thought she was very angry, and wakenedher husband, and said, 'Husband, go to the fish and tell him I mustbe lord of the sun and moon.' The fisherman was half asleep, but thethought 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 myleave. Go to the fish at once!'

Then the man went shivering with fear; and as he was going down tothe shore a dreadful storm arose, so that the trees and the very rocksshook. And all the heavens became black with stormy clouds, and thelightnings played, and the thunders rolled; and you might have seen inthe sea great black waves, swelling up like mountains with crowns ofwhite 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 tobe lord of the sun and moon.' 'Go home,' said the fish, 'to your pigstyagain.'

And there they live to this very day.