‘See,’ said the wife, ‘isn’t this nice?’
‘Yes,’ answered her husband; ‘here we shall remain and live very happily.’
‘We will think about that,’ said his wife.
With these words they had their supper and went to bed. All went well for a week or a fortnight, then the wife said:
‘Listen, husband; the cottage is much too small, and so is the yard and the garden; the flounder might just as well have sent us a larger house. I should like to live in a great stone castle. Go down to the flounder, and tell him to send us a castle.’
‘Ah, wife!’ said the fisherman, ‘the cottage is quite good enough; why do we choose to live in a castle?’
‘Why?’ said the wife. ‘You go down; the flounder can quite well do that.’
‘No, wife,’ said the man; ‘the flounder gave us the cottage. I do not like to go to him again; he might take it amiss.’
‘Go,’ said his wife. ‘He can certainly give it us, and ought to do so willingly. Go at once.’
The fisherman’s heart was very heavy, and he did not like going. He said to himself, ‘It is not right.’ Still, he went down.