Oh, I get such a kick out of fishing! Today, I looked up from under the well and saw the cup moving on the water. Ha! Somebody has come to the well for a drink, I thought!

I swam up under the cup and yanked it away from the hand. Again it reached for the cup. Again I pulled it away. What fun to hear the cursing and swearing of the big fish I’d caught. But who was it?

It didn’t take long to find out, for the man thrust his face through the water, drinking as if he would die of thirst.  I caught his long beard in my claws and held him underwater. His round eyes widened in shock and terror. I might have drowned him but what would be the fun in that?  I gave him some slack and he pulled his head out of the water, far enough to cry, “Let me go! Let me go!”

Oh-ho! I had caught a big fish, a big fish, indeed. King Kojata himself!

I said, “I will only let you go on condition that you give me something you know nothing about, which you will find on your return home.”

”Yes,” he sputtered. “You shall have it.”

I released my hold and sank happily down into the depths. I had thirty daughters but no sons. Soon I would have a prince!

Underwater Magician Who Catches a King, Green Fairy Book. Illustration by H.J. Ford.