the Fisherman and His Wife漁夫和他的妻子

　　He went inside with her. Inside the palace there was a large front hallway with a marble floor. Numerous servants opened up the large doors for them. The walls were all white and covered with beautiful tapestry. In the rooms there were chairs and tables of pure gold. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The rooms and chambers all had carpets. Food and the very best wine overloaded the tables until they almost collapsed. Outside the house there was a large courtyard with the very best carriages and stalls for horses and cows. Furthermore there was a magnificent garden with the most beautiful flowers and fine fruit trees and a pleasure forest a good half mile long, with elk and deer and hares and everything that anyone could possibly want.

　　"Now," said the woman, "isn't this nice?"

　　"Oh, yes" said the man. "This is quite enough. We can live in this beautiful palace and be satisfied."

　　"We'll think about it," said the woman. "Let's sleep on it." And with that they went to bed.

　　the next morning the woman woke up first. It was just daylight, and from her bed she could see the magnificent landscape before her. Her husband was just starting to stir when she poked him in the side with her elbow and said, "Husband, get up and look out the window. Look, couldn't we be king over all this land?"

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "why would we want to be king? I don't want to be king."

　　"Well," said the woman, "even if you don't want to be king, I want to be king."

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "why do you want to be king? I don't want to tell him that."

　　"Why not?" said the woman, "Go there immediately. I must be king."

　　So the man, saddened because his wife wanted to be king, went back.

　　"This is not right, not right at all," thought the man. He did not want to go, but he went anyway.

　　When he arrived at the sea it was dark gray, and the water heaved up from below and had a foul smell. He stood there and said:

　　Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will

　　"What does she want then," said the flounder.

　　"Oh," said the man, "she wants to be king."

　　"Go home. She is already king," said the flounder.

　　then the man went home, and when he arrived there, the palace had become much larger, with a tall tower and magnificent decorations. Sentries stood outside the door, and there were so many soldiers, and drums, and trumpets. When he went inside everything was of pure marble and gold with velvet covers and large golden tassels. Then the doors to the GREat hall opened up, and there was the entire court. His wife was sitting on a high throne of gold and diamonds. She was wearing a large golden crown, and in her hand was a scepter of pure gold and precious stones. On either side of her there stood a line of maids-in-waiting, each one a head shorter than the other.

　　"Oh, wife, are you now king?"

　　"Yes," she said, "now I am king."

　　He stood and looked at her, and after thus looking at her for a while he said, "Wife, it is very nice that you are king. Now we don't have to wish for anything else."

　　"No, husband," she said, becoming restless. "Time is on my hands. I cannot stand it any longer. Go to the flounder. I am king, but now I must become emperor."

　　"Oh, wife" said the man, "Why do you want to become emperor?"

　　"Husband," she said, "go to the flounder. I want to be emperor."

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "he cannot make you emperor. I cannot tell the flounder to do that. There is only one emperor in the realm. The flounder cannot make you emperor. He cannot do that."

　　"What!" said the woman. "I am king, and you are my husband. Are you going? Go there immediately. If he can make me king then he can make me emperor. I want to be and have to be emperor. Go there immediately."

　　So he had to go. As he went on his way the frightened man thought to himself, "This is not going to end well. To ask to be emperor is shameful. The flounder is going to get tired of this."

　　With that he arrived at the sea. The water was all black and dense and boiling up from within. A strong wind blew over him that curdled the water. He stood there and said:

　　Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will

　　"What does she want then?" said the flounder.

　　"Oh, flounder," he said, "my wife wants to become emperor."

　　"Go home," said the flounder. "She is already emperor."

　　then the man went home, and when he arrived there, the entire palace was made of polished marble with alabaster statues and golden decoration. Soldiers were marching outside the gate, blowing trumpets and beating tympani and drums. Inside the house, barons and counts and dukes were walking around like servants. They opened the doors for him, which were made of pure gold. He went inside where his wife was sitting on a throne made of one piece of gold a good two miles high, and she was wearing a large golden crown that was three yards high, all set with diamonds and carbuncles. In the one hand she had a scepter, and in the other the imperial orb. Bodyguards were standing in two rows at her sides: each one smaller than the other, beginning with the largest giant and ending with the littlest dwarf, who was no larger than my little finger. Many princes and dukes were standing in front of her.

　　the man went and stood among them and said, "Wife, are you emperor now?"

　　"Yes," she said, "I am emperor."

　　He stood and looked at her, and after thus looking at her for a while, he said, "Wife, it is very nice that you are emperor."

　　"Husband," she said. "Why are you standing there? Now that I am emperor, and I want to become pope."