Week 3 Story: The Ferocious Fish

Week 3 

The Ferocious Fish

Long ago there was a man named Albus who had a wife named Elise. They lived in a cottage by the river. One day Elise fell deathly ill. She didn't know why or how but she knew she was going to die. Elise didn't want Albus to be sad over her death so she instructed him to do one thing. 

"Albus, when I die, you must go to town and buy the first animal you see. It will relieve you of your great sorrows as long as you never forget about our love." she said. 

Albus looked at her and smiled and said "Anything for you my love." 

Elise passed away the next morning and sadness filled the home. Albus was convinced he couldn't go on without her but remembered what she told him. He put on his boots and left for the town square. Upon his arrival to the market, he was quickly approached by a lady in a cloak. 

She said, "I have a fish for sale, if you take good care of him he will turn into a beautiful woman and you will have a wife" 

Albus was conflicted of this because he had just lost the love of his life and didn't want to move on already. He remembered his wife's wishes and asked how much. 

The lady responded "100 silver please!" 

Albus sighed but suggested it might be good for him as this was the first animal he had seen upon arriving at the market. He found it to be a sign from God. When Albus got home he set the fish bowl on the table and stared at it. 

"Beautiful!" he said. 

The fish looked absolutely magical, it's fins were a beautiful purple with hints of blue and pink. Albus decided he was going to take great care of the fish to watch it turn into a beautiful wife. He fed the fish daily and cleaned the water weekly. 3 years had passed and Albus was starting to get frustrated as he had completely moved on from his wife and wanted a new one! The fish grew and grew, but never transformed. 

He asked the fish "why wont you turn into that beautiful wife I wanted so badly." 

The fish sprung out of the fish bowl and started to talk. 

"Hello Albus. My name is Elisa" she said. 

His eyes grew large and his mouth dropped as the name was so familiar to his wife's 

"Are you going to transform?" he asked, disregarding her name. 

The fish looked at him offended by what he just asked. She didn't say anything but transformed into a beautiful woman. Albus started to smile. 

The woman said "I am to be your wife but there is one thing you should know. I am a witch that was cast a spell of three years in the form of a fish. I am not here to make you happy. "You are stuck with me for the rest of your life being my servant. You should not have moved on so fast from your wife." 

Albus's smile quickly faded as he did not know what he got himself into. 

He started questioning what the lady at the market had told him as he realized it was all lies. He realized his wife was the best he was going to have in that lifetime and he was stuck with a witch with a similar name as her to remind him what he had done. 

(Source: Beta Fish)

Authors Note

In this story I wanted to twist it around but use the same elements as those from The Fairy Frog by Gertrude Landa. I used the same elements present in both stories when it comes to the demands of the dying parents from The Fairy Frog and the dying wish of Elise. In "The Fairy Frog," Hanina is instructed by his dying parents to buy the first thing offered to him during the first week of Passover and it will provide great fortune to them. Instead in my version of the story, the wife is dying and is told to buy the first animal he sees and it will grant him great fortune as long as he never forgets about her. Both characters in both stories buy the first thing they see and both are animals ("The Fairy Frog", a frog obviously, and in mine a fish) but they are both very different creatures. In The Fairy Frog, the man buys a frog who gets so big that it eats all their food and takes up all the space in the house. The couple is very patient with the frog until they can't survive on the lack of food they gave up to feed the frog. In my story, Albus gets impatient and demands the fish to transform. I went the opposite route and punished Albus for his bad doings. In "The Fairy Frog", the main character grants them two wishes and brings them into the forrest where other animals give them rare jewels and stones that keep them healthy and wealthy. The family was ultimately honored for their selfless acts of kindness through out the story and obeying the wishes of Hanina's dying parents. Both characters were given a lifetime filled with whatever the animal offered. In my story it was a lifetime of being a servant and hate and sorrow, where as in "The Fairy Frog" Hanina and his wife were given a lifetime of food, wealth, and speaking many languages.