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THE THREE WISHES  HERE
was once a
man, not very rich, who had a pretty woman to his wife. One
winter’s evening,
as he sat by the fire, they talked of the happiness of their
neighbours, who
were richer than they. Said the wife, If it were in my power to have
what I
wish, I should soon be happier than all of them.’ —
‘So should I too,’ said the
husband, ‘I wish we had fairies mow, and that one of them was
kind enough to
grant me what I should ask.’ At that instant they saw a very
beautiful lady in
their room, who told them, ‘I am a fairy; and I promise to
grant you the three
first wishes you shall wish; but, take care: after having wished for
three
things, I will not grant one wish further.’ The fairy
disappeared; and the man
and his wife were much perplexed. ‘For my own
part,’ said the wife, ‘if it is
left to my choice, I know very Well what I shall wish for: I do not
wish yet,
but I think nothing is so good as to be handsome, rich, and to be of
great
quality.’ But the husband . answered, ‘With all
these things one may be sick,
fretful, and one may die young: it would be much wiser to wish for
health,
cheerfulness, and a. long life.’ — ‘But
to what purpose is a long life with
poverty?’ said the wife: ‘it would only prolong our
misery. In truth, the fairy
should have promised us a dozen of gifts, for there is at least a dozen
of
things which I want.’ — ‘That’s
true,’ said the husband, ‘but let us take time;
let us consider, from this time till morning, the three things which
are most
necessary for us, and then wish.’ —
‘I’ll think all night,’ said the wife;
‘meanwhile let us warm ourselves, for it is very
cold.’ At the same time the
wife took the tongs to mend the fire; and seeing there were a great
many coals
thoroughly lighted, she said, without thinking on it, Here’s
a nice fire, I
wish we had a yard of black pudding for our supper, we could dress it
easily.’
She had hardly said these words, when down the chimney came tumbling a
yard of
black pudding. ‘O, you silly woman,’ said her
husband; ‘here’s a fine wish
indeed! Now we have only two left; for my part, I am so vexed, that I
wish the
black pudding fast to the tip of your nose.’ The man soon
perceived that he was
sillier than his wife; for, at this second wish up starts the black
pudding,
and sticks so fast to the tip of his poor wife’s nose, there
was no means to
take it off. ‘Wretch that I am!’ cried she,
‘you are a wicked man for wishing
the pudding fast to my nose.’ — ‘My
dear,’ answered the husband, ‘I did not
think of it; but what shall we do? I am about wishing for vast riches,
and
propose to make a golden case to hide the pudding;’
— ‘Not at all,’ answered
the wife, ‘for I should kill myself, were I to live with this
pudding dangling
at my nose: be persuaded, we have still a wish to make; leave it to me,
or I
shall instantly throw myself out of the window.’ With this
she ran and opened
the window; but her husband, who loved his wife, called out,
‘Hold, my dear
wife, I give you leave to wish for what you will.’
— Well,’ said the wife, ‘my
wish is, that this pudding may drop off.’ At that instant the
pudding dropped
off; and the wife, who did not want wit, said to her husband,
‘The fairy has
imposed upon us: she was in the right possibly we should have been more
unhappy
with riches, than we are at present. Believe me, friend, let us wish
for
nothing, and take things as it shall please God to send them: in the
meantime, let
us sup upon our pudding, since that’s all that remains to us
of our wishes.’
The husband thought his wife judged right; they supped merrily, and
never gave
themselves farther trouble about the things which they had designed to
wish
for. 
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