There was a poor man and a poor woman, who had nothing but a small hut, and lived on fishing, and it went from hand to mouth with them. It happened that the man, while sitting by the water and casting his net, pulled out a fish that was completely golden. When he looked at the fish in amazement, it began to talk and said, "Listen, fisherman, if you throw me back into the water, I will make your little hut into a magnificent castle. The fisherman replied, 'What good is a castle if I have nothing to eat?' The goldfish continued, 'That will also be taken care of, there will be a cupboard in the castle, and when you open it, there will be bowls with the most beautiful food, as much as you wish.If that is so,' said the man, 'I can do you the favor.' 'Yes,' said the fish, 'but it is a condition that you do not discover to anyone in the world, whoever it may be, where your happiness has come from; if you speak a single word, then everything is over.

Now the man threw the wonderful fish back into the water and went home. But where his hut had stood before, there now stood a large castle. He opened his eyes, entered and saw his wife, dressed in beautiful clothes, sitting in a splendid room. She was very happy and said, "Man, how did this suddenly come about? I like it.' 'Yes,' said the man, 'I like it too, but I'm also very hungry, first give me something to eat.' Said the woman, 'I have nothing and know nothing to find in the new house.' Oh,' said the man, 'I see a big cupboard there, open it once.' As she opened the cupboard, there was cake, meat, fruit, wine, and smiled neatly at one. Then the woman cried out with joy, 'Heart, what do you desire now?' and they ate and drank together. When they were full, the woman asked, 'But, man, where does all this wealth come from?' 'Oh,' he answered, 'don't ask me about it, I mustn't tell you, if someone discovers it, our happiness is gone again.' 'Well,' she said, 'if I'm not supposed to know, I don't desire to know.' But she was not in earnest about it, but it gave her no peace day and night, and she tormented and goaded the man until he said in his impatience that it all came from a wonderful golden fish, which he had caught and set free again. And as soon as it was out, the beautiful castle with the cupboard disappeared and they were back in the old fisherman's hut.
The man had to start all over again, go about his business and fish. As luck would have it, he pulled out the golden fish once again. Listen," said the fish, "if you throw me back into the water, I will give you back the lock with the cupboard full of boiled and fried food; only hold on tight and don't tell anyone from whom you got it, otherwise it will be lost again. The fisherman answered, "I'll be careful," and threw the fish down into the water. At home everything was again in its former glory, and the woman was in a joy over the luck, but the curiosity did not let her rest, so that after a few days she started to ask again how it had happened and how he had started it. The man remained silent for a while, but at last she made him so angry that he blurted out the secret. At that moment the castle disappeared and they were sitting in the old hut again. Now you've got it,' said the man, 'now we can go back to gnawing at the hunger cloth. Ah,' said the woman, 'I would rather not have the wealth if I do not know from whom it comes; otherwise I will have no peace.

The man went fishing again, and after a while he took out the goldfish for the third time. Listen," said the fish, "I see that I am to fall into your hands, take me home with you and cut me into six pieces, give two of them to your wife to eat, two to your horse, and two to the ground, and you will have a blessing. The man took the fish home and did as he was told. And it came to pass that from the two pieces which were put into the ground two golden lilies grew up, and the horse got two golden fillings, and the fisherman's wife gave birth to two children who were all golden.

The children grew up, became tall and beautiful, and the lilies and horses grew with them. Then they said father, we want to sit down on our golden horses and go out into the world'. But he answered sadly, "How will I bear it if you go away and I don't know how you are? Then they said, "The two golden lilies remain here, so you can see how we are: if they are fresh, we are healthy; if they are withered, we are sick; if they fall down, we are dead. They rode away and came to an inn, where there were many people, and when they saw the two gold children, they began to laugh and mock. When one of them heard the mockery, he was ashamed, did not want to go into the world, turned back and came home to his father. But the other rode away and came to a large forest. And when he wanted to ride into it, the people said, "It is not possible that you ride through, the forest is full of robbers, they will deal badly with you, and even if they see that you are golden and your horses too, they will beat you to death. But he did not let himself be frightened and said, "I must and shall pass through. Then he took bear skins and covered himself and his horse with them, so that nothing more of the gold was to be seen, and rode confidently into the forest. When he had ridden away a little, he heard rustling in the bushes and heard voices talking to each other. From one side he shouted, 'There is one,' but from the other, 'Let him go, he is a bear-skinner, and poor and bald, like a church mouse, what shall we do with him? So the golden child rode happily through the forest and no harm came to him.

It happened that he came to a village, where he saw a girl who was so beautiful that he did not believe there could be a more beautiful girl in the world. And because he felt such great love for her, he went to her and said "I love you with all my heart, will you be my wife? The girl liked him so much that she agreed and said, "Yes, I will be your wife and be faithful to you all my life. Now they held the wedding together, and when they were in the greatest joy, the father of the bride came home, and when he saw that his daughter was married, he was surprised and said, "Where is the bridegroom? They showed him the golden child, but he still had his bear skins on. Then the father said angrily, 'Never again shall a bear-skin have my daughter,' and wanted to murder him. Then the bride begged him as much as she could, saying 'he is my husband for once, and I love him dearly,' until he finally let himself be appeased. But he could not get his mind out of his head, so he got up early the next morning and went to see his daughter's husband to see if he was a common and ragged beggar. But as he looked, he saw a glorious, golden man in bed, and the discarded bear skins lay on the ground. Then he went back and thought, 'How good it is that I have restrained my anger, I would have committed a great misdeed.

But the golden child dreamed that he was going out to hunt for a magnificent stag, and when he awoke in the morning, he said to his bride, 'I want to go out hunting. She was afraid and asked him to stay there, saying, "A great misfortune can easily befall you," but he answered, "I must go. So he got up and went out into the forest, and not long after, a proud stag stopped in front of him, just as he had dreamed. He started to shoot it, but the stag jumped away. So he chased after it over ditches and through bushes, and did not tire all day long; but in the evening the stag disappeared before his eyes. And when the golden child looked around, he stood before a small house, in which sat a witch. He knocked, and a little mother came out and asked, "What do you want so late in the middle of the great forest? He said, 'Have you not seen a deer?' 'Yes,' she answered, 'I know the deer,' and a little dog, which had come out of the house with her, barked fiercely at the man. Will you be silent, you evil toad,' he said, 'or I will shoot you dead. Then the witch cried angrily, "What, you want to kill my little dog?" and immediately transformed him so that he lay there like a stone, and his bride awaited him in vain, thinking, "It has certainly come true what I was so afraid of and what was so heavy on my heart.

At home, however, the other brother was standing by the gold lilies when suddenly one of them fell over. Oh God,' he said, 'a great misfortune has befallen my brother, I must leave, if I can perhaps save him. Then the father said, 'Stay here, if I lose you too, what shall I do?' But he answered, "I must and must go. So he got on his golden horse and rode away, and came into the great forest where his brother lay and was stone. The old witch came out of her house, called him and wanted to touch him, but he did not approach, but said 'I will shoot you down if you do not bring my brother back to life.' She touched the stone with her finger, as much as she did not like to do so, and immediately he regained his human life. The two golden children, however, rejoiced when they saw each other again, kissed and caressed each other, and rode away together from the forest, one to his bride, the other home to his father. Then the father said, "I knew well that you had redeemed your brother, for the golden lily has suddenly risen again and has continued to bloom. Now they lived happily and were well until the end of their lives.