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

Overview

A fisherman catches a beautiful fish that begs for release, promising a rich subsequent haul. It adds that he may keep it if he catches it again. Both promises are fulfilled: the fisherman first gains plentiful fish, then recaptures the speaker at the same place.

The fish instructs him to divide it into twelve slices: three for his wife, three for his mare, three for his female dog and three to bury in the garden. After a year, the wife bears three boys, the mare three colts, the dog three lions, and three lances emerge in the garden. The boys grow into travellers, each taking a horse, lion and lance. The narrative supplies this extraordinary birth sequence without naming a fish species or identifying the speaking fish as a transformed prince.

Speech after capturePromised abundant catchTwelve prescribed portionsThree linked birth groups
01

Origins & earliest records

Consiglieri Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, translated from the original manuscript by Henriqueta Monteiro, London: Elliot Stock for the Folk-Lore Society, 1882; tale XXV, pp. 100–105. The selected account does not identify an individual narrator or collecting locality.

02

Records & interpretation

The located 1882 English translation presents this figure within a complete collected narrative. Pedroso’s introductory pp. 1–2 describe the thirty published selections from his larger collection.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Portuguese Folk-Tales XXV: The Slices of Fish, pp. 100–105

    Collected by Consiglieri Pedroso; translated by Henriqueta Monteiro · 1882

    Located complete narrative in the original London edition; Ralston’s comparative introduction is separate commentary.

Family, evolution & connections

The dog and her three lion offspring - Pedroso XXV

The extraordinary birth stated on p. 101, within the complete tale on pp. 100-105.

One maternal branch records the three offspring collectively. The fish’s portions precede the births; the fish is not identified as a parent. No lion father or personal names are supplied. This narrative genealogy makes no zoological claim.

Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, Monteiro translation (1882), XXV, The Slices of Fish, pp. 100-105
Comparison · motif comparison

The speaking fish in Crane’s The Cloud

Both tales distribute a recaptured speaking fish to a fisherman’s wife, dog and horse, followed by three human sons and matching animal helpers. Pedroso’s dog bears lions and buried portions become lances; Crane’s dog bears puppies and suspended bones signal danger by bleeding. The fish is not identified as a biological father in either telling.

Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, Monteiro translation (1882), XXV, pp. 100–105 · Crane, Italian Popular Tales (1885), VI, The Cloud, pp. 30–35

References

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

  1. Primary textPortuguese Folk-Tales, original 1882 edition scan and transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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