The fisherman went home and thought he would find no house. When he came near, there stood a great stone palace, and his wife was standing on the steps, about to enter. She took him by the hand and said, "Come inside."
Then he went with her, and inside the castle was a large hall with a marble floor, and there were heaps of servants who threw open the great doors, and the walls were covered with beautiful tapestry, and in the apartments were gilded chairs and tables, and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and all the rooms were beautifully carpeted. The best of food and drink also was set before them when they wished to dine. And outside the house was a large courtyard with horse and cow stables and a coach-house--all fine buildings; and a splendid garden with most beautiful flowers and fruit, and in a park quite a league long were deer and roe and hares, and everything one could wish for,
"Now," said the wife, "isn"t this beautiful?"
"Yes, indeed," said the fisherman. "Now we will stay here and live in this beautiful castle, and be very happy."
"We will consider the matter," said his wife, and they went to bed.
The next morning the wife woke up first at daybreak, and looked out of the bed at the beautiful country stretched before her. Her husband was still sleeping, so she dug her elbows into his side and said:
"Husband, get up and look out of the window. Could we not become the king of all this land? Go down to the flounder and tell him we choose to be king."
"Ah, wife!" replied her husband, "why should we be king? _I_ don"t want to be king."
"Well," said his wife, "if you don"t want to be king, _I_ will be king.
Go down to the flounder; I will be king."
"Alas! wife," said the fisherman, "why do you want to be king? I can"t ask him that."
"And why not?" said his wife. "Go down at once. I must be king."
So the fisherman went, though much vexed that his wife wanted to be king. "It is not right! It is not right," he thought. He did not wish to go, yet he went.
When he came to the sea, the water was a dark-grey colour, and it was heaving against the sh.o.r.e. So he stood and said:
"Once a prince, but changed you be Into a flounder in the sea.
Come! for my wife, Ilsebel, Wishes what I dare not tell."
"What does she want now?" asked the flounder.
"Alas!" said the fisherman, "she wants to be king."
"Go home; she is that already," said the flounder.
The fisherman went home, and when he came near the palace he saw that it had become much larger, and that it had great towers and splendid ornamental carving on it. A sentinel was standing before the gate, and there were numbers of soldiers with kettledrums and trumpets. And when he went into the palace, he found everything was of pure marble and gold, and the curtains of damask with ta.s.sels of gold. Then the doors of the hall flew open, and there stood the whole Court round his wife, who was sitting on a high throne of gold and diamonds; she wore a great golden crown, and had a sceptre of gold and precious stones in her hand, and by her on either side stood six pages in a row, each one a head taller than the other. Then he went before her and said:
"Ah, wife! are you king now?"
"Yes," said his wife; "now I am king."
He stood looking at her, and when he had looked for some time, he said:
"Let that be enough, wife, now that you are king! Now we have nothing more to wish for."
"Nay, husband," said his wife restlessly, "my wishing powers are boundless; I cannot restrain them any longer. Go down to the flounder; king I am, now I must be emperor."
"Alas! wife," said the fisherman, "why do you want to be emperor?"
"Husband," said she, "go to the flounder; I _will_ be emperor."
"Ah, wife," he said, "he cannot make you emperor; I don"t like to ask him that. There is only one emperor in the kingdom. Indeed and indeed he cannot make you emperor."
"What!" said his wife. "I am king, and you are my husband. Will you go at once? Go! If he can make king he can make emperor, and emperor I must and will be. Go!"
So he had to go. But as he went, he felt quite frightened, and he thought to himself, "This can"t be right; to be emperor is too ambitious; the flounder will be tired out at last."
Thinking this he came to the sh.o.r.e. The sea was quite black and thick, and it was breaking high on the beach; the foam was flying about, and the wind was blowing; everything looked bleak. The fisherman was chilled with fear. He stood and said:
"Once a prince, but changed you be Into a flounder in the sea.
Come! for my wife, Ilsebel, Wishes what I dare not tell."
"What does she want now?" asked the flounder.
"Alas! flounder," he said, "my wife wants to be emperor."
"Go home," said the flounder; "she is that already."
So the fisherman went home, and when he came there he saw the whole castle was made of polished marble, ornamented with alabaster statues and gold. Before the gate soldiers were marching, blowing trumpets and beating drums. Inside the palace were walking barons, counts, and dukes, acting as servants; they opened the door, which was of beaten gold. And when he entered, he saw his wife upon a throne which was made out of a single block of gold, and which was quite six cubits high. She had on a great golden crown which was three yards high and set with brilliants and sparkling gems. In one hand she held a sceptre, and in the other the imperial globe, and on either side of her stood two rows of halberdiers, each smaller than the other, from a seven-foot giant to the tiniest little dwarf no higher than my little finger. Many princes and dukes were standing before her. The fisherman went up to her quietly and said:
"Wife, are you emperor now?"
"Yes," she said, "I am emperor."
He stood looking at her magnificence, and when he had watched her for some time, said:
"Ah, wife, let that be enough, now that you are emperor."
"Husband," said she, "why are you standing there? I am emperor now, and I want to be pope too; go down to the flounder."
"Alas! wife," said the fisherman, "what more do you want? You cannot be pope; there is only one pope in Christendom, and he cannot make you that."
"Husband," she said, "I _will_ be pope. Go down quickly; I must be pope to-day."
"No, wife," said the fisherman; "I can"t ask him that. It is not right; it is too much. The flounder cannot make you pope."
"Husband, what nonsense!" said his wife. "If he can make emperor, he can make pope too. Go down this instant; I am emperor and you are my husband. Will you be off at once?"
So he was frightened and went out; but he felt quite faint, and trembled and shook, and his knees and legs began to give way under him. The wind was blowing fiercely across the land, and the clouds flying across the sky looked as gloomy as if it were night; the leaves were being blown from the trees; the water was foaming and seething and dashing upon the sh.o.r.e, and in the distance he saw the ships in great distress, dancing and tossing on the waves. Still the sky was very blue in the middle, although at the sides it was an angry red as in a great storm. So he stood shuddering in anxiety, and said:
"Once a prince, but changed you be Into a flounder in the sea.
Come! for my wife, Ilsebel, Wishes what I dare not tell."
"Well, what does she want now?" asked the flounder.
"Alas!" said the fisherman, "she wants to be pope."
"Go home, then; she is that already," said the flounder.