The Fisherman and His Wife

A poor fisherman caught an enchanted flounder who begged to be released, revealing he was actually an enchanted prince. Moved by mercy, the fisherman let him go without asking anything in return, and went home to tell his wife.

His wife, furious that he had wasted the chance, sent him back to ask for a small cottage instead of their miserable hut, and the fish granted it instantly. But satisfaction never lasted — she sent him back again and again, each time demanding more: a stone castle, then to be made king, then emperor, then pope, each wish granted though the sea grew stormier and darker with every visit as the fish grew wearier of her greed.

Finally, unsatisfied even with ruling the Church itself, she demanded to control the sun and moon, to command the very forces of the universe. This final wish was too much even for the magical fish, who, in a furious storm, sent the fisherman home to find his wife back in their original miserable hut, every gift stripped away at once — her endless greed having cost her everything she had ever been given.