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
shore, 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.

Then he went home, and when he came there he saw, as it were, a large
church surrounded by palaces. He pushed his w