A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

After his parents die, Joe returns to fishing and lands a golden fish on his last, exhausted cast. At home the fish slips from a plate and becomes a beautiful woman who declares their mutual attachment. While Joe sleeps, she cracks a whip to summon dragons, who build a palace on his mountain land and stock it with livestock, servants and a working farm.

A neighbouring lord catches sight of her despite her warnings and wants her for himself. His advisers devise tasks whose failure would cost Joe his wife: replacing a stone column with vines that produce wine overnight, and building a silver bridge planted with trees full of singing birds. Each time she reassures Joe and sets her dragons to the work. A nightingale's song rebukes the lord's greed.

Finally she gives Joe the weakest yearling foal, fitted with a silver harness, to fly to heaven and invite God to the lord's dinner. When God and Saint Peter arrive, the lord turns them away, and his estate becomes water. The visitors dine with Joe and his wife instead.

Transforms from a golden fish into a womanSummons and commands dragons with the crack of a whipSupplies a flying foal for a journey to heaven
01

Origins & earliest records

Translated tale IV, Fisher Joe, pp. 15–21, with notes, in Jones and Kropf's 1889 edition.

02

Records & interpretation

Directly read in the Project Gutenberg public-domain translation. Her parentage is not stated, and no return to fish form is narrated.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Folk-Tales of the Magyars

    W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf (translators and editors); collected by Kriza, Erdélyi, Pap and others · 1889

    Selected bibliography; tale IV, Fisher Joe, pp. 15–21.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Public-domain primary translationThe Folk-Tales of the Magyars (plain text)Research access: 2026-10-07
  2. Catalogue recordThe Folk-Tales of the Magyars (catalogue record)Research access: 2026-10-07

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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