The Fisherman and His Wife

A poor fisherman casts his line and catches an enchanted flounder who speaks human words. The flounder begs for his life, claiming to be a prince under a spell. The fisherman, moved by pity, releases him. When the fisherman returns home and tells his wife, she becomes enraged: "You should have demanded a reward! Return at once and claim wealth!" The fisherman, reluctantly, returns to the water and calls the flounder. The fish, grateful for being spared, grants him a modest cottage. But the wife, dwelling in comfort, becomes restless. "Demand a palace!" The fish grants it. "Now demand that he make you a queen!" The flounder, though reluctant, makes her a queen. Yet even as queen, she is not satisfied. "Demand that I make you empress of all the land!" The fish grants this too. Still unsatisfied, she demands to become pope, then the ultimate ruler of all creation. "Make me your equal! I wish to have power over you as well!" At this, the fish falls silent. The enchantment unravels. The wife and the fisherman find themselves back in their original hovel, poorer than before. The flounder, no longer bound by his promise to a husband seeking only temperance and modest improvement, has vanished. Temperance—the virtue of accepting modest sufficiency and being grateful for what one has—is essential to happiness. Intemperance—endless wanting, refusal to be satisfied—leads to the destruction of all one has gained. The fisherman's wife learned too late that wanting more than one needs guarantees the loss of everything.