300 Must-Read Fairy Tales for Children - Autumn (Latest Colorful Phonetic Illustrated Edition)

Author: Mo Ren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Once, there was a fisherman who lived with his wife in a dirty little fishing cabin by the sea. Every day, the fisherman went fishing. That day, he took his fishing rod and sat by the sea, gazing blankly at the clear water, seemingly preoccupied.
Suddenly, the hook dropped sharply. When he pulled it up, he found a large goldfish. To his surprise, the goldfish said to him, "Fisherman, I beg you to let me go. I am not just a goldfish; I am a prince who has been cursed. Please return me to the sea and let me swim freely."
After hearing this, the fisherman released the goldfish back into the clear water. That day, the fisherman returned to his small cabin with his wife empty-handed. He told her about his encounter.
"Did you not ask for anything?" his wife asked.
"No," the fisherman replied, "What should I have asked for?"
"Sigh," his wife said, "Living in such a dirty little house is unbearable. You should have asked for a beautiful villa. He will grant our wishes."
Not wanting to anger his wife, the fisherman had no choice but to go to the sea.
When he reached the shore, he stood and said:
"Goldfish, in the vast sea, please listen carefully to what I say. I caught you and released you without asking for anything, but my wife is relentless."
The goldfish indeed swam over and asked, "What does she want?"
"Sigh," the fisherman said, "She no longer wants to live in that little cabin. She wants a beautiful villa."
"Go back," the goldfish said, "She already has a villa."
When the fisherman returned home, a villa had already been built in its place. The villa had a small entrance hall, a beautiful living room, a clean bedroom with a comfortable large bed, a kitchen, and a food storage room, filled with furniture, silver and copper utensils of everything.
"Look," his wife exclaimed, spinning around, "Isn't it beautiful?"
"Beautiful," the fisherman replied, "Let's live here and be happy."
They lived like this for a couple of weeks. One day, his wife suddenly said, "Listen, dear, this house is too small. I want to live in a grand palace made of stone. Go find the goldfish and ask him to give us a palace."