Speaker 1: The Fish and the Ring, written by Flora Annie Steele.
Speaker 1: Once upon a time there lived a baron who was
Speaker 1: a great magician, and could tell by his arts and
Speaker 1: charms everything that was going to happen at any time. Now,
Speaker 1: this great lord had a little son born to him
Speaker 1: as heir to all his castles and lands. So, when
Speaker 1: the little lad was about four years old, wishing to
Speaker 1: know what his fortune would be, the baron looked into
Speaker 1: his book of Fate to see what it foretold. And lo,
Speaker 1: and behold, it was written that this much loved, much
Speaker 1: prized heir to all the great lands and castles, was
Speaker 1: to marry a low born maiden. So the baron was
Speaker 1: dismayed and set to work, by more arts and charms
Speaker 1: to discover if this maiden were already born, and if so,
Speaker 1: oh where she lived? And he found out that she
Speaker 1: had just been born in a very poor house, where
Speaker 1: the poor parents were already burdened with five children. So
Speaker 1: he called for his horse and rode away and away
Speaker 1: until he came to the poor man's house. And there
Speaker 1: he found the poor man sitting at his doorstep, very
Speaker 1: sad and doleful. What is the matter, my friend, asked,
Speaker 1: He and the poor man replied, a little girl has
Speaker 1: just been born to our house, and we already have
Speaker 1: five children. We don't know where the bread is to
Speaker 1: come from to fill the sixth mouth. The baron readily replied,
Speaker 1: I'm just looking for such a little girl to companion
Speaker 1: my son, so if you will, I will give you
Speaker 1: ten crowns to send her with me. The poor man
Speaker 1: jumped with joy, since he was to get good money
Speaker 1: and his daughter, so he thought a good home. Baron
Speaker 1: took the child and rode away, But when he got
Speaker 1: to the river, he flung the little thing into the
Speaker 1: swollen stream and said to himself, as he galloped back
Speaker 1: to his castle, there goes fate. But as fate would
Speaker 1: have it, the little girl didn't sink. The stream was
Speaker 1: very swift, and her long clothes kept her up till
Speaker 1: she caught in a snag just opposite a fisherman who
Speaker 1: was mending his nets. Now the fisherman and his wife
Speaker 1: had no children, and they were just longing for a baby,
Speaker 1: so when he saw the little girl, he was overcome
Speaker 1: with joy and took her home to his wife, who
Speaker 1: received her with open arms, and there she grew up
Speaker 1: the apple of their eyes into the most beautiful maiden
Speaker 1: that ever was seen. Now, when she was about fifteen
Speaker 1: years of age. It so happened that the baron and
Speaker 1: his friends went hunting along the banks of the river
Speaker 1: and stopped to drink water at the fisherman's hut. And
Speaker 1: who should bring the water out? But as they thought
Speaker 1: the fisherman's daughter. Now the young men of the party
Speaker 1: noticed her beauty, and one of them said to the baron,
Speaker 1: she should marry. Well, read us her fate, since you
Speaker 1: are so learned in the art. Then the baron, scarcely
Speaker 1: looking at her, said carelessly I could guess her fate,
Speaker 1: but to please you, I will cast her horoscope by
Speaker 1: the stars. So tell me, girl, what day you were born.
Speaker 1: That I cannot tell, sir, replied the girl, for I
Speaker 1: was picked up in the river about fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1: Then the baron grew pale, for he guessed at once
Speaker 1: that she was the little girl he had flung into
Speaker 1: the stream, and that fate had been stronger than he was.
Speaker 1: But he kept his own counsel and said nothing at
Speaker 1: the time. Afterwards, however, he thought out a plan, so
Speaker 1: he wrote back and gave the girl a letter. He
Speaker 1: said to the girl, I will make you fortune. Take
Speaker 1: this letter to my brother who needs a good girl,
Speaker 1: and you will be settled for life. Now the fisherman
Speaker 1: and his wife were growing old and needed help, so
Speaker 1: the girl said she would go and took the letter,
Speaker 1: and the baron rode back to his castle, saying to himself,
Speaker 1: once more, there goes fate. For what he had written
Speaker 1: in the letter was this, dear brother, take the bearer
Speaker 1: and put her to death immediately. But once again he
Speaker 1: was mistaken, since on the way to the town where
Speaker 1: his brother lived, the girl had to stop the night
Speaker 1: in a little inn, and it so happened that that
Speaker 1: very night a gang of thieves broke into the inn, and,
Speaker 1: not content with carrying off all that the innkeeper possessed,
Speaker 1: they searched the pockets of the guests and found the
Speaker 1: letter which the girl carried, And when they read it,
Speaker 1: they agreed that it was a mean trick and a shame.
Speaker 1: So their captain sat down and taking pen and pag
Speaker 1: and wrote instead, dear brother, take the bearer and marry
Speaker 1: her to my son without delay. Then, after putting the
Speaker 1: note into an envelope and sealing it up, they gave
Speaker 1: it to the girl and bade her go on her way.
Speaker 1: So when she arrived at the brother's castle, though rather surprised,
Speaker 1: he gave orders for a wedding feast to be prepared,
Speaker 1: and the baron's son, who was staying with his uncle,
Speaker 1: seeing the girl's great beauty, was content, and hence they
Speaker 1: were fast bedded. When the news was brought to the baron,
Speaker 1: he almost beside himself, but he was determined not to
Speaker 1: be done by fate, so he quickly wrote to his
Speaker 1: brothers and pretended to be quite pleased. And then one day,
Speaker 1: when no one was around, he asked the young bride
Speaker 1: to come for a walk with him, and when they
Speaker 1: were close to some cliffs, seized hold of her and
Speaker 1: was ready to throw her over into the sea. But
Speaker 1: she begged heart for her life. It is not my fault,
Speaker 1: she said, I have done nothing. It is fate. But
Speaker 1: if you will spare my life, I promise that I
Speaker 1: will fight against fate. Also, I will never see you
Speaker 1: or your son again until you desire it. That will
Speaker 1: be safer for you, since the sea may preserve me
Speaker 1: as the river did. The baron agreed to this, so
Speaker 1: he took off his gold ring from his finger and
Speaker 1: flung it over the cliffs into the sea, and said,
Speaker 1: never dare to show me your face till you can
Speaker 1: show me that ring too, And with that he let
Speaker 1: her go. The poor girl wandered on and on until
Speaker 1: she came to a nobleman's castle, and there she started
Speaker 1: working as a kitchen girl, since she had been used
Speaker 1: to such work in the fisherman's hut. Now. One day,
Speaker 1: as she was cleaning a big fish, she looked out
Speaker 1: of the kitchen window and saw the baron and his
Speaker 1: young son her husband, coming in. At first, she thought
Speaker 1: that to keep her promise, she must run away, but
Speaker 1: after words she remembered they would not see her in
Speaker 1: the kitchen, so she went on with cleaning off the
Speaker 1: big fish, and lo and behold, she saw something shine
Speaker 1: in the fish inside, and there, sure enough was the
Speaker 1: baron's ring. She slipped it onto her thumb and went
Speaker 1: on with her work, dressed the fish as nicely as
Speaker 1: she ever could, and served it up as pretty as maybe,
Speaker 1: with parsley, sauce and butter. When it came to the table,
Speaker 1: the guests liked it so well that they asked the
Speaker 1: host who cooked it, and he called to his servants
Speaker 1: to send up the cook so she may get her
Speaker 1: reward well. When the girl heard she was wanted, she
Speaker 1: made herself ready, and with the gold ring on her thumb,
Speaker 1: went boldly into the dining hall. And all the guests
Speaker 1: when they saw her, was struck dumb by her wonderful beauty,
Speaker 1: and the young husband started up gladly. But the baron,
Speaker 1: recognizing her, jumped up angrily. So without one word, the
Speaker 1: girl held up her hand before his face, and the
Speaker 1: gold ring shone and glittered on it, and she went
Speaker 1: straight up to the baron and laid her hand with
Speaker 1: the ring on it, before him on the table. Then
Speaker 1: the baron understood that fate had been too strong for him,
Speaker 1: so he took her by the hand, and, placing her
Speaker 1: beside him, turned to the guests and said, this is
Speaker 1: my son's wife. Let us drink a toast in her honor,
Speaker 1: And after dinner he took her and his son home
Speaker 1: to his castle, where they all lived happily afterwards,