The Fisherman and His Wife (Part 2)

The fisherman didn’t like the idea of going back and asking the fish for a favor, but he did love his wife, so the next day he paddled his tiny boat far out into the water and called out, "Little fish! I did you a favor by letting you go, will you do a favor for me?" The fish swam up to his boat. "What do you need?" asked the fish. "My wife is tired of our little hut on the sea cliff. She wants a nice brick cottage instead." said the fisherman. "Then when you return home, you will have a cottage." said the fish, and swam away. And sure enough, when the fisherman got home he saw that where his little hut once stood there was now a nice brick cottage. The fisherman ran up and hugged his wife and they stood outside and admired it. "Are you happy now?" he asked. "Yes," she replied. And she was… for a while. But after a week, she began to think that their nice brick cottage was a bit too small. She could do better. "We need a castle," she told her husband. "Go back to the fish and ask him for one." "Why do we need it? We have each other and we have a roof over our heads. Isn’t that enough?" "Maybe that’s enough for you," she snapped, "but I’m tired of not living in a castle! Go back to the fish and tell him to magic us one up, pronto!" The fisherman began to worry he was asking the fish for too much, but he did love his wife, so the next day he paddled his tiny boat far out into the water and called out, "Little fish! I did you a favor by letting you go, will you do yet another favor for me?" The fish swam up to his little boat. "What do you need now?" asked the fish. "My wife has had to endure not living in a castle for too long. She is tired of our big house on the sea cliff. She wants a gigantic stone castle instead." said the fisherman. "Then when you return home, you will have a gigantic stone castle." said the fish and swam away. And sure enough, when the fisherman got home he saw that where the nice brick cottage stood there was now a stone castle so huge it nearly touched the sky. The fisherman ran up and hugged his wife again as they stood outside and admired it. But before he could ask is she was happy, they began to feel the ground grumble. The gigantic castle was so heavy that it caused the cliff overlooking the sea to collapse, and it fell down into the sea. The wife fell into a deep despair. "We have nothing now! Nothing! I can’t go back to that after having tasted the good life." "When will you learn that all we need is each other and a simple roof over our heads?" the fisherman asked, picking up the scattered remains of the hut that they had once called home. With a little hard work and determination, the fisherman and his wife were able to set it up again, good as new. Returning to their modest little hut at the edge of the cliff, they lived happily for the rest of their lives. [caption id="attachment_25240" align="aligncenter" width="472"] The Fisherman and His Wife[/caption]

Từ vựng

admired: ngưỡng mộ pronto: ngay lập tức endure: chịu đựng gigantic: khổng lồ grumble: rung lên collapse: sụp đổ despair: tuyệt vọng determination: sự quyết tâm edge of the cliff: cạnh vách đá Returning: quay trở lại