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' 'Nonsense!' said the wife; 'he
will do it very willingly, I know; go along and try!'

The fisherman went, but his heart was very heavy: and when he came to
the sea, it looked blue and gloomy, though it was very calm; and he
went close to the edge of the waves, and said:

'O man of the sea!
Hearken to me!
My wife Ilsabill
Will have her own will,
And hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!'

'Well, what does she want now?' said the fish. 'Ah!' said the man,
dolefully, 'my wife wants to live in a stone castle.' 'Go home, then,'
said the fish; 'she is standing at the gate of it already.' So away
went the fisherman, and found his wife standing before the gate of a
great castle. 'See,' said she, 'is not this grand?' With that they
went into the castle together, and found a great many servants there,
and the rooms all richly furnished, and full of golden chairs and
tables; and behind the castle was a garden, and around it was a park
half a mile long, full of sheep, and goats, and hares, and deer; and
in the courtyard were stables and cow-houses. 'Well,' said the man,
'now we will live cheerful and happy in this beautiful castle for the
rest of our lives.' 'Perhaps we may,' said the wife; 'but let us sleep
upon it, before we make up our minds to that.' So they went to bed.

The next morning when Dame Ilsabill awoke it was broad daylight, and
she jogged the fisherman with her elbow, and said, 'Get up, husband,
and bestir yourself, for we must be king of all the land.' 'Wife,
wife,' said the man, 'why should we wish to be the king? I will not be
king.' 'Then I will,' said she. 'But, wife,' said the fisherman, 'how
can you be king--the fish cannot make you a king?' 'Husband,' said
she, 'say no more about it, but go and try! I will be king.' So the
man went away quite sorrowful to think that his wife should want to be
king. This time the sea looked a dark grey colour, and was overspread
with curling waves and the ridges of foam as he cried out:

'O man of the sea!
Hearken to me!
My wife Ilsabill
Will have her own will,
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.

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