The Knight of Fish
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a young man named Ralph. Ralph was a decent fellow, but he always had bad luck. He did everything he could to earn money for himself and his wife, but it was always a struggle. He had to do various odd jobs for the people in his village, Pasadena.
One day, Ralph was at the lake fishing, hoping to catch enough fish to sell at the market and feed his family. But after hours and hours of sitting on the shore with his rod in hand, Ralph only managed to catch garbage floating on the surface.
— I couldn't catch anything. What will I tell my wife?
He was about to give up and go home when he heard a cry of pain.
— What was that?
Ralph turned around and saw a dwarf with a very long beard, caught in a tree root. Ralph was surprised by the dwarf and didn't know how to react.
— Help Tony! Tony's beard is caught in the tree root!
— Sure, but where is Tony? — I am Tony, Tony the dwarf. — Ah, yes, of course. Let me help you.
He carefully untangled the dwarf's beard from the tree root.
— Because you helped me, I will do something for you.
Saying this, he pulled a glowing stone from his pocket and gave it to Ralph.
— Remember, whenever...
Suddenly, they heard a wolf howling.
— Oh no, a wolf! I must go! Goodbye! — But Tony, what should I remember?
Ralph watched Tony running and disappearing behind the trees. He looked at the stone. It was glowing and had a purple color.
— Maybe it's a precious stone. I'll sell it at the market. Until then, let me see if I can still...
Wishes Granted
He put the stone in his pocket and sat down again with his rod in hand. He waited and waited, but still caught nothing. Losing hope, he said aloud:
— I wish I could catch a big fish.
As soon as he said that, a huge fish landed on the shore, bigger than Ralph himself.
— I've never seen a fish this big. I could feed a whole village with a fish this size. But how will I carry it home?
Ralph thought that if he could make another impossible wish...
— I wish the fish would carry me.
And voila! The fish began to move. It slid under Ralph's feet and started jumping toward Pasadena, carrying Ralph on its back like a rider. Ralph began to believe the stone might be a magic stone.
They went on. The village of Pasadena faced the beautiful castle of King Monaco. Throughout the village there were rumors about the king, King Monaco and his family. It was said the queen had been cheerful and always laughed and rejoiced wherever she went. The king loved her for it.
One day, when the queen suddenly died, King Monaco became so sad that he banned laughter in the entire castle. King Monaco had a daughter named Viola. Since he banned laughter, Princess Viola also stopped laughing. She was beautiful and elegant, but without laughter she seemed lifeless and sad.
She had lived without laughing for so long that now she didn't even know how to laugh anymore. King Monaco realized his mistake and decided to try to make his daughter laugh. All the clowns and comedians in the kingdom were summoned, but none could draw even a smile from her.
Finally, he called his ministers and wise men to marry his daughter to one of them.
— Any man who can make my daughter Princess Viola laugh shall be rewarded with fifty million gold coins and shall marry Viola.
The men were delighted to hear this. Meanwhile, Princess Viola was leaning on her bedroom window when she saw something unusual on the street below. At first glance, it seemed to be a man riding a huge fish. Soon, it was clearly a man riding a huge fish.
Princess Viola rubbed her eyes. It was by far the strangest and funniest thing she had ever seen. She burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her laughter was heard throughout the castle.
The King and the Promise
King Monaco, sitting in the throne room, heard his daughter laughing.
— That must be Viola! Finally! Someone has made my daughter laugh!
The king went immediately to her room.
— What happened, Viola? What amuses you so much?
Holding her stomach as she continued laughing, Viola pointed toward the window.
— Oh, Father! I can't stop laughing at this stranger who's riding a fish instead of a horse! I'm in love with him!
The king rushed to the window and saw Ralph riding a huge fish and began to laugh along with Viola. But the joy of hearing his daughter laugh for the first time faded quickly, as the king realized the promise he had made. He sent his men immediately to bring the stranger riding a fish to the castle.
— I want to meet this man.
Ralph was brought before the king.
— What is your name, sir? — Ralph, Your Majesty. I live in the village near Pasadena. — And what else do you do besides riding fish, Ralph? — Well, Your Majesty, I can also catch fish. And sometimes I sell them at the market. See? — Oh, a peasant! If only I could have imagined the consequences of my decision. — What decision, Your Majesty?
King Monaco explained everything to Ralph. Ralph was delighted.
— You leave me no choice. You will have to marry my beautiful daughter.
Ralph smiled. Not only was the king going to give him fifty million gold coins, but he had to let him marry his daughter. That very evening, King Monaco went to his daughter Viola to reconfirm his decision.
— Are you sure you want to marry him? — No one has ever made me this happy before. I don't care how many princes, kings, counts, or dukes you put before me. I will marry no one but the king of fish. Besides, you promised that whoever made me laugh would marry me.
Having no other solution, King Monaco invited Ralph to stay for dinner and spend the night at the castle. Ralph and Viola got to know each other and fell in love instantly. But King Monaco was less than thrilled about the whole affair. During dinner, the king realized Ralph was incredibly plain.
How he ate, how he dressed, how he spoke, and then the manners. No refinement, no elegance. This worried him very, very much. After dinner, he went to his prime minister, Nilman, who was his closest advisor.
— I can't break my promise, but I can't let my daughter marry this so-called king of fish. So I leave the problem to you. Make sure this wedding doesn't happen. Do whatever you must, but save me from this situation.
Nilman thought for a while and nodded. King Monaco was very pleased, for he believed the prime minister would resolve the situation. What he didn't know was that Nilman planned to stop the wedding by making Ralph disappear from Pasadena.
That night, Nilman's guards snuck into the guest room where Ralph was sleeping. They tied him up, put him in a barrel, sealed it shut, and threw it into the sea.
Truth and Happiness
Ralph woke up when he realized he was about to drown and immediately put the glowing stone to work.
— I wish this barrel were a boat.
The barrel grew and grew until it became a large boat.
— I wish this boat would take me back to Pasadena.
And the next moment, the boat floated into the air, and Ralph was on his way home with a confident smile on his face. The next morning, when it was discovered that Ralph was missing, Viola was devastated.
— Father! The only man I've fallen in love with has disappeared! Please find him, for I cannot live without him!
King Monaco was ashamed. The search began at once, but there was no trace of Ralph. King Monaco was agitated and worried about his daughter.
— What did you do? Where is he? You must bring him back! — Your Majesty, I can't. I locked him in a barrel and threw him into the sea. — What did you do?! — In other words, I got rid of him. — I, I never asked you to do such a thing! I didn't think he was suitable enough for my daughter, but I certainly didn't want to put his life in danger! What is wrong with you?!
King Monaco was now deeply worried. Not knowing that Ralph was fine, he went immediately to his daughter to confess everything. Ralph arrived at the port, triumphant. He then went to his beloved and told her everything. King Monaco had just finished telling his daughter everything and was shocked to see Ralph alive.
— Father! Someone is unhappy that I'm marrying Ralph! They threw him into the sea! You must find out who it is, for such a shameful act must not go unpunished!
King Monaco was deeply ashamed of what he had done. He could no longer keep the secret and immediately confessed everything to Ralph and Viola and asked them to forgive him.
— Who am I to forgive you, Your Majesty? I just want to say that I'm in love with your daughter and that I want to marry her. That's all I want.
King Monaco was extremely impressed with Ralph. He gave the two his blessing. The wedding took place that very day. Nilman was banished from the kingdom, and King Monaco offered Ralph half of his kingdom.
— Thank you, Your Majesty, but I don't want your kingdom or any other riches in the world.
And the moment he said that, he woke up in a small hut. He turned around and saw his wife sleeping beside him.
— That was the strangest dream in the world.
Be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true!
