hed, both he and the fish.

The fisherman, much astonished, rubbed his eyes and looked about on
all sides. For a moment he felt afraid, but when he had crossed
himself all terror left him and he went to draw in his nets by the
light of the moon. And what do you think he found in them? It was
neither a pike nor a trout, but a small fish with eyes of diamonds,
fins of rainbow colour, and golden scales that shone and flashed like
lightning.

When he had spread his nets on the beach the fish began to talk to him
in the language of men.

"Do not kill me, young fisherman," it said, "but accept in exchange
for my life this golden ring. Every time you put it on your finger
repeat these words:

'I conjure thee, O ring, who gold can give,
In the name of the little fishling of gold,
For the good of man, that man may live,
And the honour of heaven, send, new or old,
Little or much, as may be my need,
Coins of the realm, let them fall like seed.'

After uttering each of these words, a shower of gold pieces will
fall."

The fisherman gladly accepted the ring, and freeing the miraculous
fish from the net he threw it back into the water. As it fell, it
shone in the air like a shooting star and then disappeared beneath the
waves.

On his way back he said to himself, "My mother and I will go to bed
hungry to-night, without our fried fish, but to-morrow, when I have
made the golden coins gleam in our humble cottage, all sorts of good
things will find their way there, and we shall live like lords."

But things turned out very differently, for the first thing he saw on
opening the door was the table covered with a white cloth, and upon it
a china soup-tureen in which lay the two bream freshly cooked.

"Where did you get those fish from, dear mother?"

"I do not know myself," replied she, "for I have neither cleaned them
nor cooked them. Our table spread itself, the fish placed themselves
upon it, and although they have been there an hour they do not get
cold; any one might think they had just been taken off the fire. Come,
let us eat them."

The widow and her son sat down, said grace, and after eating as much
as they wanted went to bed.

Next morning, at breakfast time, the fisherman made the sign of the
cross, and then put on the gold ring, at the same time repeating the
words the fish had taught him:

"I conjure thee, O ring, who gold can give,
In the name of the little fishling of gold,
For the good