Foolish Wishes

A MAN and his wife were sitting in a small room and were lamenting that they were poor. "Oh," said the man, "if there were only some good fairies who would say to one, 'What do you wish for? I will grant it.' Then I would wish for something that would make me happy, all my life."

The man had scarcely ceased speaking when the door opened and a beautiful fairy walked in. "I heard the words you spoke, and will not only grant you one wish, but three, so wish for something good." And the fairy disappeared.

The poor people were very happy and bethought themselves of something to wish for. The man said, "Let us eat our dinner first and meanwhile we will think of something to wish for."

These people were so poor they had only potatoes without either butter or meat for their dinner, and as they were very hungry the woman said, "Oh, if I only had a fine sausage!" A sausage came flying into her room and lay on her plate; a voice said, "One wish is now fulfilled."

Her husband became very angry and called out, "I only wish the sausage was hanging to your nose!" The sausage hopped from the plate and hung on to his wife's nose, and so the second wish was granted.

The poor woman looked very funny with a sausage on her nose; she lamented and wept and tried every way to take it off, but it hung so tight that the only thing for her to do was to make another wish and wish that it was off. Both man and wife exclaimed, "If the sausage was only a thousand miles away!" The sausage immediately flew out of the window and the people were happy. They made no more wishes and were satisfied the rest of their lives.