Atondido Stories
"But your net would never have caught a fish if you hadn't
been out in my boat and if I hadn't helped you!"
"Give me this one," the first man said, "and I'll let you have
the next one."
"No! You take the next one!" the other said. "This one's mine!"
So they kept on arguing to no purpose until Yirik went up to
them and said:
"Let me decide this for you. Suppose you sell me the fish and
then divide the money."
He offered them all the money the king had given him for his
journey. The fishermen, delighted at the offer, at once agreed.
Yirik handed them over the money and then, taking the gasping
fish in his hand, he threw it back into the sea.
When the fish had caught its breath, it rose on a wave and
called out to Yirik:
"Thank you, Yirik, thank you. You have saved my life this
day. Your kindness will not go unrewarded. If ever you are in
trouble, think of me and I will help you."
With that the golden fish flicked its tail and disappeared in
the water.
"Where are you going, Yirik?" the fishermen asked.
"I'm going in quest of a golden-haired maiden whom my
master, the king, wished to make his wife."
"He must mean the Princess Zlatovlaska," the fishermen said
to each other.
"The Princess Zlatovlaska?" Yirik repeated. "Who is she?"
"She's the golden-haired daughter of the King of the Crystal
Palace. Do you see the faint outlines of an island over yonder?
That's where she lives. The king has twelve daughters but Zla-
tovlaska alone has golden hair. Each morning at dawn a won-
derful glow spreads over land and sea. That's Zlatovlaska
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