A poor fisherman lived with his wife in a miserable little shack by the sea. Every day, he went out in his small boat and fished. Most days, he caught enough to eat. Some days, he caught nothing.

One day, he cast his line into the calm, blue water. He waited. After a while, he felt a tug — a strong one. He pulled and pulled, and out of the water came the biggest, most beautiful fish he had ever seen. Its scales shone like gold and its eyes sparkled with intelligence.

Then the fish spoke.

"Please let me go!" said the fish. "I am not an ordinary fish. I am an enchanted prince, trapped in this form by a spell. I would taste terrible anyway. Please throw me back."

The fisherman was so surprised that a fish was talking to him that he simply said, "Well, I certainly don't want to eat a talking fish!" and threw it back into the sea.

When he went home and told his wife what had happened, she stared at him in disbelief.

"You caught a magical fish that can grant wishes, and you just let it go? Without asking for ANYTHING?"

"But... he asked me to let him go, so I did," said the fisherman.

"Go back to the sea right now!" said his wife. "Find the fish and ask him for a wish. Look at this terrible shack we live in! Ask him for a nice little cottage. That's not too much to ask."

The fisherman did not want to go, but his wife insisted. He walked to the shore and called out:

"Oh fish of the sea, come to me! My wife has a wish, and it won't let her be!"

The golden fish appeared. "What does she want?" he asked.

"She would like a nice cottage," said the fisherman apologetically.

"Go home," said the fish. "She already has it."

When the fisherman got home, the miserable shack was gone. In its place was a charming little cottage with a garden full of flowers, a vegetable patch, and chickens in the yard.

His wife was sitting on the front step, smiling. "Isn't this lovely?" she said.

The fisherman agreed. It was lovely. He hoped that would be enough.

It was not.