The Golden Fish The old man’s wife said, “The fish gave us one wish.

Maybe he will
give us more.” The next day, she told her husband to ask the fish for a new
A Russian Folktale washtub. He did as his wife asked. When he got home, there was a new
washtub in the front yard. But his wife was not happy.
Each day she wanted more. She
wanted a new house. She wanted to
be rich. She wanted to be queen. Each
time the golden fish granted her wish.
But even being queen did not make
the old woman happy. She sent her
husband to the golden fish one last time.
She wanted to rule the land and sea and
everything that lived there. The old man
caught the golden fish and made the wish.
“Go home,” said the golden fish.
In a land far away lived a poor old man and his wife. They “Your wife will get what she should have.”
lived in an old shack with a crooked roof. The old shack was on a
When the old man got home, he
small hill near the sea. Their only food was the fish that the old
saw his wife dressed in rags. She was
man caught.
standing inside the old shack. And there
Each morning the old man took his fishing net down to the was not even a loaf of bread left to eat.
sea. He would throw the net into the cool, blue water. Then he
would pull it back in filled with fish. One day, when he pulled the net
back in, he saw something shiny. It was a golden fish. The golden
fish began to speak. It begged the old man to throw it back into the
water. “If you let me live, I will grant you a wish.”
The kind old man didn’t ask for anything. He just put the
golden fish back into the water. When he got home, the old man
told his wife what had happened. She was very angry. “Go back
and ask the fish for a loaf of bread for us to eat!” she shouted.
The old man did as his wife asked. He caught the golden fish
again. “Please may I have a loaf of bread,” he asked the fish. When
he got home, a loaf of bread was on the table.

© 2000 by Evan-Moor Corp. 4 Folktales & Fables • EMC 757 © 2000 by Evan-Moor Corp. 5 Folktales & Fables • EMC 757
 Name Name
Questions about What Does It Mean?
The Golden Fish Write each word by its meaning.
1. Where did the old man and his wife live? begged loaf sea shiny
grant poor shack washtub

2. How did the old man catch fish?

1. an old broken-down house

2. the ocean
3. Tell two ways the golden fish was different from other fish.
3. bright
a.
4. asked for something
b.
5. to give what is asked for
4. What was the wife’s first wish?
6. bread baked in one large piece

7. a place to wash clothes

5. What was the wife’s last wish?
8. not having much money or many things

Where Was It?

6. Why did the golden fish take everything away from the old man and his wife?
Match:
1. loaf of bread in the fishing net
Think About It
Write three things you learned about the old man from this story. 2. shiny, golden fish inside the old shack

1.
3. wife dressed in rags on a small hill near the sea
2.

3.
4. old shack on the table

© 2000 by Evan-Moor Corp. 6 Folktales & Fables • EMC 757 © 2000 by Evan-Moor Corp. 7 Folktales & Fables • EMC 757
Name
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that describes someone or something.
Circle the adjectives in this list.
shiny shack golden talking
bread poor table catch
old greedy angry kind

Use the circled words to describe the following:

1. , man

2. , fish

Write a sentence that describes you.

Opposites
Match the words that are opposites.

rich less up happy

new poor funny down

more near upset outside

front old take sad

far back inside give

© 2000 by Evan-Moor Corp. 10 Folktales & Fables • EMC 757