The Fish and the Wish
One day Raju, a fisherman, caught a big fish. He was
thrilled. He could sell the big fish for a lot of money. His wife would be very
happy. But he had a surprise. He heard a voice crying out "Wait!"
It was the voice of the fish, who said "I am a prince.
My real name is Frederick. I wanted to marry Anna, the beautiful princess of
Wonderland. But her father, King Cole, was very angry. He changed me into a
fish by magic."
Raju was amazed. He had never seen a talking fish before. He
wondered what the fish wanted him to do.
The fish begged Raju asking "Please don't kill me, if I live for another year, an angel would
turn me back to a prince."
Raju said, "I am a poor fisherman. I can sell you for a
lot of money."
The fish promised, "If you don't kill me, I will grant
you a wish. I have magical powers."
Raju replied, "My wife is a clever woman. I will ask
her what she wants."
The fish said, "Okay, Come back by evening. I will
wait."
The fisherman returned to the river in the evening. The fish
asked him, "What is your wife's wish?"
Raju answered, "She wants to live in a cottage."
The fish promised, "Okay! It will be done."
When Raju returned home that evening he saw that his hut had
disappeared and in its place stood a
lovely cottage. He was very happy but his wife was not!
The fisherman's wife said, "Just a cottage? And you
spared his life. He should give you another wish. Go! Ask him to give us a
palace."
Raju went back to the river the next day. He called out to
the fish, "Oh, Prince Freddy! Could you please grant me another
wish?"
The fish asked, "Don't you like your cottage,
fisherman?"
The fisherman answered, "I do, but my wife is unhappy.
She wants to live in a palace now."
The fish replied, "Okay, It will be done."
Raju went back to his home and was astonished to see there
standing a beautiful marble palace instead of where the cottage had been. His
wife was now the queen!
His wife called him, "Come here, Go and ask for another
wish. I want to have power over the sun and the moon. Go on."
Raju yet again went back to the riverside and pleaded,
"Prince Freddy, could you kindly grant me one last wish?"
The fish asked, "What does your wife want now?"
Raju told the fish what his wife was wishing further. On
hearing the wish, the fish was enraged and replied, "So your wife wants to
rule the world, does she? For that, she
must live in her hut again," The fish said this and swam away.
Raju went back home and disappointed
to see his misfortune. Alas! The palace
had disappeared and in its place stood back his old, small hut. His wife cried
for a whole week and she kept on thinking, "Wish I had not been so
greedy!"
Moral: Too much greed is always a loss.
Find more Moral based Short Stories on this blog:
Paromita Pramanick ©2018. All Rights Reserved.
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