The Golden
Fish, Bosnia and
Herzegovina (fairy tale)/Το χρυσό ψάρι, Βοσνία Ερζεγοβίνη (παραμύθι)
Upon a certain island in the middle
of the sea dwelt an old man and his wife. They were so poor that they often
went short of bread, for the fish he caught were their only means of
livelihood.
One day when the man had been
fishing for many hours without success, he hooked a small gold-fish, whose eyes
shone as brightly as diamonds.
“Let me go, kind man,” the little
creature cried. “I should not make a mouthful either for yourself or your wife,
and my own mate waits for me down in the waters.”
The old man was so moved by his
pleadings that he took him off the hook and threw him back into the sea. Before
he swam off to rejoin his mate, the gold-fish promised that in return for his
kindness he would come to the fisherman’s help if ever he wanted him. Laughing
merrily at this, for he did not believe that a fish could help him except by
providing him with food, the old man went home and told his wife.
“What!” she cried, “you actually let
him go when you had caught him? It was just like your stupidity. We have not a
scrap of bread in the house, and now, I suppose, we must starve!”
Her reproaches continued for so long
that though he scarcely believed what the fish had said, the poor old man
thought that at least it would do no harm to put him to the test. He therefore
hastened back to the shore, and stood at the very edge of the waves.
“Golden fish, golden fish!” he
called. “Come to me, I pray, with your tail in the water, and your head lifted
up towards me!”
As the last word was uttered the
gold-fish popped up his head.
“You see I have kept my promise,” he
said. “What can I do for you, my good friend?”
“There is not a scrap of bread in
the house,” quavered the old man, “and my wife is very angry with me for letting
you go.”
“Don’t trouble about that!” said the
gold-fish in an offhand manner; “you will find bread, and to spare, when you go
home.” And the old man hurried away to see if his little friend had spoken
truly.
Surely enough, he found that the pan
was full of fine white loaves.
“I did not do so badly for you after
all, good wife!” he said, as they ate their supper; but his wife was anything
but satisfied. The more she had, the more she wanted, and she lay awake
planning what they should demand from the gold-fish next.
“Wake up, you lazy man!” she cried
to her husband, early next morning. “Go down to the sea and tell your fish that
I must have a new wash-tub.”
The old man did as his wife bade
him, and the moment he called the gold-fish reappeared. He seemed quite willing
to grant the new request, and on his return home the old man found a beautiful
new wash-tub in the small yard at the back of their cabin.
“Why didn’t you ask for a new cabin
too?” his wife said angrily. “If you had had a grain of sense you would have
done this without being told. Go back at once, and say that we must have one.”
The old man was rather ashamed to
trouble his friend again so soon; but the gold-fish was as obliging as ever.
“Very well,” he said, “a new cabin
you shall have.” And the old man found one so spick and span that he hardly
dared cross the floor for fear of soiling it. It would have pleased him greatly
had his wife been contented, but she, good woman, did nothing but grumble
still.
“Tell your gold-fish,” she said next
day, “that I want to be a duchess, with many servants at my beck and call, and
a splendid carriage to drive in.”
Once more her wish was granted, but
now her husband’s plight was hard indeed. She would not let him share her
palace, but ordered him off to the stables, where he was forced to keep company
with her grooms. In a few days, however, he grew reconciled to his lot, for
here he could live in peace, while he learned that she was leading those around
her a terrible life. It was not long before she sent for him again.
“Summon the gold-fish,” she
commanded haughtily, “and tell him I wish to be Queen of the Waters, and to
rule over all the fish.”
The poor old man felt sorry for the
fish if they had to be under her rule, for prosperity had quite spoilt her.
However, he dared not disobey, and once more summoned his powerful friend.
“‘Make your wife the Queen of the
Waters’?” exclaimed the gold-fish. “That is the last thing I should do. She is
unfit to reign, for she cannot rule herself or her desires. I shall make her
once more a poor old woman. Adieu! You will see me no more.”
The old man returned sorrowfully
with this unpleasant message, to find the palace transformed into a humble
cabin, and his wife in a skirt of threadbare stuff in place of the rich brocade
which she had worn of late. She was sad and humble, and much more easy to live
with than she had been before. Her husband therefore had occasion many times to
think gratefully of the gold-fish, and sometimes when drawing in his net the
glint of the sun upon the scales of his captives would give him a moment’s
hope–which, alas! was as often disappointed–that once again he was to see his
benefactor.
https://Kinimatografosteatro.blogspot.com/
- Επιτρέπεται η αναδημοσίευση του
περιεχομένου της ιστοσελίδας εφόσον αναφέρεται ευκρινώς η πηγή του και υπάρχει
ενεργός σύνδεσμος(link ). Νόμος 2121/1993 και κανόνες Διεθνούς Δικαίου που
ισχύουν στην Ελλάδα.
ΕΠΙΣΗΜΑΝΣΗ
Ορισμένα αναρτώμενα από το διαδίκτυο κείμενα ή
εικόνες (με σχετική σημείωση της πηγής), θεωρούμε ότι είναι δημόσια. Αν
υπάρχουν δικαιώματα συγγραφέων, παρακαλούμε ενημερώστε μας για να τα
αφαιρέσουμε. Επίσης σημειώνεται ότι οι απόψεις του ιστολόγιου μπορεί να μην
συμπίπτουν με τα περιεχόμενα του άρθρου. Για τα άρθρα που δημοσιεύονται εδώ,
ουδεμία ευθύνη εκ του νόμου φέρουμε καθώς απηχούν αποκλειστικά τις απόψεις των
συντακτών τους και δεν δεσμεύουν καθ’ οιονδήποτε τρόπο το ιστολόγιο.
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