Once upon a time, a very poor old couple lived in a small house near the sea.
One morning, the fisherman went fishing and caught a Golden Fish. The Golden Fish said to the fisherman:
“ If you save my life I can give you anything you want”.
The fisherman did not want anything and put the fish back into the sea.
His wife however wanted a loaf of bread. The fisherman told the Golden Fish and that day his wife got a loaf of bread.
But she wanted more: “I want a new washtub I can wash in”. And she got her new washtub.
She wanted more still: “I want a new house”. And she got her new house.
And more still: ”I want to be the ruler of the province”. And she became ruler, with beautiful clothes and many riches.
And more still. She told her husband, “Catch the fish. I want to be the ruler of the seas”. The fisherman caught the fish. But when he returned home he saw his wife like she was at the beginning, poor and living in a little old house by the sea, with no food.