And hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!'

'Well, what would she have now?' said the fish. 'Alas!' said the poor
man, 'my wife wants to be king.' 'Go home,' said the fish; 'she is
king already.'

Then the fisherman went home; and as he came close to the palace he
saw a troop of soldiers, and heard the sound of drums and trumpets.
And when he went in he saw his wife sitting on a throne of gold and
diamonds, with a golden crown upon her head; and on each side of her
stood six fair maidens, each a head taller than the other. 'Well,
wife,' said the fisherman, 'are you king?' 'Yes,' said she, 'I am
king.' And when he had looked at her for a long time, he said, 'Ah,
wife! what a fine thing it is to be king! Now we shall never have
anything more to wish for as long as we live.' 'I don't know how that
may be,' said she; 'never is a long time. I am king, it is true; but I
begin to be tired of that, and I think I should like to be emperor.'
'Alas, wife! why should you wish to be emperor?' said the fisherman.
'Husband,' said she, 'go to the fish! I say I will be emperor.' 'Ah,
wife!' replied the fisherman, 'the fish cannot make an emperor, I am
sure, and I should not like to ask him for such a thing.' 'I am king,'
said Ilsabill, 'and you are my slave; so go at once!'

So the fisherman was forced to go; and he muttered as he went along,
'This will come to no good, it is too much to ask; the fish will be
tired at last, and then we shall be sorry for what we have done.' He
soon came to the seashore; and the water was quite black and muddy,
and a mighty whirlwind blew over the waves and rolled them about, but
he went as near as he could to the water's brink, and said: