Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a king and a queen who had two sons. The elder son, Dizdar, was a short, sullen man with only one eye located in the middle of his forehead. In contrast, his younger brother was tall, handsome, and possessed a noble spirit.
The King loved his younger son dearly and wished to name him his heir. “My people would never obey a one-eyed dwarf,” he would say. This filled Dizdar with great resentment. He confided in his wife, Matni, who was a powerful enchantress. “The throne is my right!” he cried. “If I cannot have it all, then the kingdom must be divided!”
Cunning Matni devised a dark plan to secure the entire kingdom for her husband. She invited the younger prince to a banquet in her chambers. She told Dizdar, “After dinner, take him to the balcony overlooking the river. I will transform him into a fish, and you will throw him into the water. In this way, we shall be rid of him forever.”
The plan worked perfectly. As the two brothers stood on the balcony after their meal, Matni cast enchanted powder over the younger prince from the roof. Instantly, the prince turned into a tiny fish, and Dizdar hurled him into the dark depths of the river. When the prince realized he could swim gracefully beneath the waves, he understood what had happened. To escape Matni’s reach, he swam for days until he crossed the borders of his father’s kingdom.
One day, some fishermen caught him in their nets and took him to the palace of a neighboring country to be served for dinner. However, a servant noticed the fish’s grace and could not bear to harm it. Knowing the Queen longed for a child, the servant brought the fish to her. “Your Majesty, this little fish may bring you joy,” the servant said.
The Queen grew so fond of the fish that she named him the “Fish Prince.” She fed him grains of rice and, as he grew larger, she built him a grand tank where the fresh river water flowed in and out.
One day, as the Queen sat by the tank, she asked, “Are you happy here, my dear?” To her astonishment, the Fish Prince spoke. “I am happy, Queen-mother, but I am very lonely. If you could find me a wife, my world would be complete.” Though she did not know he was an enchanted human, she loved him as her own son and immediately sent word throughout the land. However, no one wished to give their daughter to a “monster.” Finally, the Queen offered a large bag of gold as a reward.
A poor, elderly beggar, hearing of the gold, agreed to give his daughter Maya to the Fish Prince. Maya was a kind and innocent girl who had suffered the endless cruelty of her stepmother, spending her days washing laundry by the river.
Upon hearing the news, Maya wept with sorrow. Before departing for the palace, she went to say goodbye to her only friend since childhood: a Seven-Headed Cobra who lived by the riverbank. The cobra emerged from its lair and said, “Do not cry, Maya; there is a way. Take these three pebbles and hide them in your dress. When the Fish Prince approaches you with his mouth wide open, do not be afraid. Throw the first pebble; you will see him sink to the bottom. When he rises again, throw the second; he will sink once more. When you throw the third, the enchantment will break, and you will see a handsome prince before you.”
Maya was taken to the palace with great ceremony and placed in a delicate room built inside the Fish Prince’s tank. Trembling with fear, she clutched the pebbles and waited. Suddenly, the calm waters began to churn, and the great fish appeared from the waves. He swam toward her room, his mouth wide open, and bellowed with a voice like thunder, “I want to see my wife! Open the door!”
With shaking hands, Maya opened the door slightly. Just as the cobra had instructed, she threw the first pebble with all her might. It hit the fish’s throat, and he sank like a heavy stone. Moments later, he rose to the surface again. Maya threw the second pebble, striking him squarely on the head, and he sank once more.
Finally, it was time for the third pebble. Maya was so nervous that her hands shook violently. When she threw the pebble, it only grazed the tip of the fish’s fin. At that very moment, a miracle occurred! The water in the tank vanished, replaced by a brilliant light. In the center of the light stood a prince, drenched but breathtakingly handsome.
The young prince rushed to Maya, took her hands, and cried out with joy, “Brave Maya, you have broken the spell! We are free from the dark waters. Come, let us enjoy the sunlight and true happiness!”
The King and Queen were overjoyed to see the prince returned to his true form. Maya and the Fish Prince lived in the palace from that day forward, hand in hand and heart to heart, in peace and happiness forevermore.
