The Fisherman and the Magic Fish

Today is Mardi Gras.  We didn't celebrate this holiday when I was young, the only thing I knew about it was that it sounded kind of wild, until I looked it up this year and found out what it was all about.  Did you know that Mardi Gras translates literally into Fat Tuesday?  That title describes the holiday perfectly, because today is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the day when Catholics begin Lent, the season when they give up something important to them in order to become closer to God.  Often what they give up is rich, fatty food.  So the day before they deny themselves they live it up, eating as much decadent food as they can. 

When I first learned this I'm ashamed to admit I was quite disdainful.  "Shame on them," I thought.  "Here you are, trying to get closer to God, so you act badly first."  Then I remembered the way my own kids, and I, myself, when I was a girl, act the night before Fast Sunday.  As soon as they realize that tomorrow is Fast Day they begin looking around to see what they can find to eat today.  I suppose it's human nature.  We all tend to be hoarders when faced with an upcoming shortage.

One of my favorite stories as a girl was Heidi.  Some day I'll tell the whole story, but for now, remember how when she lived in the rich house in Frankfurt Heidi put her soft, white dinner rolls into her pocket every evening at supper, then carefully hid them in a pile at the back of her closet?  She wanted to save them for Peter's blind grandmother who had such a hard time eating the hard, black bread at home.  In the end, Heidi was left with a pile of stale old rolls that were so hard the grandmother couldn't have eaten them anyway.  Heidi was a sweetheart, and she was thinking about someone else, and eventually everything worked out OK.  Not so for another story I loved as a kid.

The Fisherman and the Magic Fish

One day an old fisherman was down at the sea, fishing.  He threw out his line, and when he pulled it in he discovered a beautiful fish on the end.  But this was no ordinary fish.  As the fisherman reached to take it out of the water the fish opened his mouth and spoke.

"Kind fisherman," the magic fish said, "if you will throw me back into the ocean I will grant you any wish your heart desires."

The fisherman was astonished to hear the fish talk.  He didn't want to kill such a wonderful creature, so he quickly unhooked the fish and threw it back into the ocean.  Immediately the fish swam close to the shore, and sticking his head out of the water he said, "Thank you so much for giving me my life, fisherman.  Now I will give you your wish.  What would you like?"

The fisherman hadn't really thought about anything he wanted.  He was quite content with life the way it was, but he remembered how hard his wife worked keeping things going in their little hut, so he said, "Magic fish, if you can, it would be nice for my wife to have a nice little cottage to live in instead of the hut we have now."

"Go home, then," said the magic fish.  "You will find what you deserve."

The fisherman turned around and went home.  There, instead of the old hut, he found a delightful little cottage.  It was pretty and new, with flowers in front and a garden in back.  Chickens pecked happily in the yard, and he heard a cow mooing in the back.  The fisherman was delighted.  "What a wonderful place to live," he thought.  But then the door opened and his wife came out with a frustrated look on her face. 

"Where on earth have you been," she demanded?  "I have been waiting and waiting for you to come home!  And where is the fish you were going to catch for our supper?"

The fisherman looked at his wife in surprise, but he sheepishly answered, "Why, wife, I caught a fish, but I let it go.  It said it was a magic fish, and if I saved his life he would grant me anything I wanted.  And see, just look at this little cottage we have now.  Doesn't it make you happy?"

"Happy," shouted the wife.  "Of course it doesn't make me happy!  If the fish said you could have anything you wanted why didn't you ask for something better than this tiny little cottage?  You go back down to sea and ask that fish for something nicer than this!"

"Oh wife," the fisherman hesitated.  "Surely this is enough.  I don't want to make the fish angry."

"He won't be angry," the wife demanded.  "The magic fish told you you could have anything you wanted.  Now go and ask for something worthwhile."

So the poor fisherman turned around and went back down to the sea.  The water wasn't as smooth and glassy as before, but he stood on the shore and called,  "Magic fish of the sea, oh Magic fish of the sea, my wife wants me to ask for something else."

Pretty soon the magic fish swam up to the shore and asked, "So what is it your wife wants, fisherman?"

"I'm sorry to ask for more," the fisherman began, "but my wife says if you promised to give me anything I want I should have asked for something better than a cottage."

"How about a fine mansion?" the fish asked. 

"Oh my," the fisherman replied.  "That would be wonderful!"

"Then go home," the magic fish told him. 

So the fisherman turned around and went home.  There, instead of the lovely little cottage, he found a fine mansion.  It had beautiful parks and trees all around it, and a servant was waiting at the door when he came in.  Inside the rooms were big and finely decorated, but the fisherman found his wife standing in the great hall with a scowl on her face.

"What is the matter, wife?" the fisherman asked.  "Isn't this the finest mansion you could ever have imagined?  Wasn't it nice of the magic fish to give it to us?"

"No, it is not nice," the wife answered crossly.  "Why did you just ask for just a mansion?  I want a castle.  You go back down to the ocean and tell the fish I want to have a castle and kingdom."

"Oh, I can't do that," the fisherman pleaded.  "Surely this mansion is good enough for us."

But his wife insisted, so finally the poor fisherman turned around and went back down to the sea.  Now the wind was blowing and the sea was dark and choppy.  The fisherman stood on the shore and called out, "Magic fish of the sea, Magic fish of the sea.  Please come talk to me.  My wife says she wants a castle and a kingdom instead of a mansion."

The fish swam up to the shore and poked his head out of the water.  "Why didn't she ask for that to begin with?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm sorry," replied the fisherman.  "But we really do appreciate all you have done for us."

"Go home then," said the fish.  "You will find what your wife wants."

The fisherman went home, and sure enough, there he found a magnificent castle with footmen and guards standing at attention.  When he entered he saw his wife standing on the marble floor, looking around in anger."

"You call this a castle?"  she shouted as soon as she saw her husband.  "Why, even the King of France has a better castle than this.  I don't want just any castle, I want the finest palace in all the world.  You go back down to the ocean and tell that fish I want to be the emperor of the whole world!"

"I can't do that," exclaimed the poor fisherman in horror.  "Come, wife.  You have a magnificent castle and a kingdom!  I can't possibly go and ask the fish to make you the emperor of the world!"

But his wife would have none of it.  She shouted and screamed at the poor fisherman until finally in terror he left and walked back down to the sea. 

Now the sky was black and cloudy.  Huge waves crashed upon the shore and the wind howled.  The fisherman stood on the  bank and called,  "Magic fish of the sea, Magic fish of the sea.  I am sorry to call you back, but my wife wants to be the emperor of the entire world."

The fish swam up to the shore and stuck his head above the waves.  "She wants to be the emperor now, does she?" he asked.  "Well, you go back home, fisherman.  Your wife has what she deserves."

The fisherman turned around and walked slowly back to his home.  There he discovered his wife, sitting on a rock outside of their old hut, exactly where she deserved to be.