The Fisherman and the Sea

Martina leaned against the pillows in her bed and watched the summer sunset through the open window. The reddish gold haze made the houses and fields of the hilly town look peaceful, the sharp edges blending together. Two weeks had passed since Martina received her book, and tomorrow at school she would return it. She had about ten more stories left, so she made the dangerous decision to read in bed. Finally, she reached the last story, titled “The Fisherman and the Sea."

The story fully engrossed Martina. It told about a poor man whose father had died when he was a child, leaving behind a magic ring. As the father died, he told the ring, “Watch over my son always when I’m gone.”

The magic ring gave the son great fishing and hunting success. While fishing, it allowed him to go underwater without oxygen. Then it played beautiful chirimía music to lure all the fish. Then, it would freeze the fish in place, so the man could grab one and return to surface. When he went hunting, the ring helped him shoot animals—his arrows never missed. The town grew jealous of the fisherman’s abilities and complained to the king that he would take all the fish from the lake and animals from the forest. The king brought the fisherman to court and decided to give him a challenge.

In private, the king gave a golden crown to his most trusted soldiers and said, “Take this to the middle of the lake where it’s deepest and drop it in. Don’t tell anyone where it is.”

Then, in court, he told the fisherman, “I lost a golden crown in the lake. You have two days to find it and bring it back, or you will be sentenced to death.”

The terrified fisherman thought to himself, “The lake is so large and deep, I couldn’t explore every part of it in two years!”

He sat on the beach and cried at his fate, but the ring whispered, “Go into the water. I will never abandon you—I will help you find the crown.”

Dejected, the man forced himself underwater. The ring played the chirimía music, even louder and more beautiful than usual. A blue-green woman with flowing silver hair came to listen.

“Who are you?” she asked at the end of the song.

“I’m just a fisherman, but I’m scared for my life! I have to find the king’s golden crown somewhere in this lake, or I’ll be sentenced to death.”

“I can help you,” she replied. “I’m the goddess of the lake, so all the fish obey me.” She turned to the fish gathered for the music. “Go search the lake for this golden crown.” Eventually, an eel found it tangled in some seaweed.

The man, ecstatic at his saved life, thanked the goddess and returned the crown to the king, who let him free.

Martina kept reading and reading, though night had come. The story went many pages, but she couldn’t put the book down. She turned the page and began a paragraph: “The man returned to his daily activities, but the townspeople still disliked him. They criticized the king for setting him free, so the king gave the fisherman another challenge...”

Before finishing the sentence, Martina drifted off. She instantly stood in a large tiled room: the king’s court. The king looked down at her and said, “Fisherman, the townspeople keep complaining about you. I’m forced to give you another challenge.”

Martina, feeling a mix of fear and confusion, looked behind her to see an empty room and down to see the same white blouse and floral skirt she had worn earlier that day. She looked nothing like a fisherman. “Are you talking to me?" She looked up. "My name is Martina, I’m ten years old, and I’m not the fisherman you’re looking for.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” the king replied. “I know you are the same fisherman who retrieved my crown from the lake and that hunts and fishes all the animals. Now, since you are such a skilled hunter, you must bring a jaguar back here to me within two days, or you will be sentenced to death.”

Martina left the courtroom trembling thinking, “What is going on? The king treated me like I was the fisherman. And there's no way I could hunt a jaguar—they're impossible to find, let alone kill."

A voice whispered out of nowhere, “Go into the forest. You will find a bow leaning against a tree, and I’ll play music to lure a jaguar for you to hunt. You can never fail when I am with you.”

Martina lifted her hand and saw on her index finger the silver ring from the book. With a sudden wave of courage and focus, she went to the forest, following the ring's instructions. The ring played its beautiful music, and every animal of the forest came to listen, even the jaguar. Using the bow, she took a shot, and with the magic of the ring the arrow went straight through the jaguar's eye. The ring gave her strength to carry the large animal back to the king.

The king’s eyes widened before contorting with anger. “Fisherman, you must be a demon! No one can kill a jaguar—I expected you to fail. Bring this jaguar back to life, or you will be sentenced to death!”

Before Martina had time to panic, the ring whispered, “Jaguar, return to life!” The jaguar lifted its head, stretched, and chased the terrified king from the room. Martina barely had time to feel relieved before it turned and started charging her—

She jerked upright in bed, breathing heavily. Out the window she saw early morning light. “I’m so glad I’m done with this book,” Martina thought.

Two hours later, Martina sat very bored at her school desk. Her teacher asked for the books back, so Martina reached in her bag for the book. What she saw made her heart stop. Mixed in with pencil shavings at the bottom of her bag lay a gold necklace, a blue hummingbird feather, a jar filled with herbs, and a silver ring, as real and solid as her desk.