Adaptation by Simon Edwards and Antonia Chan Original story by Rosaline L. Fung
Once upon a time, a fisherman lived in a small hut with his wife on the island of Ma Wan in Hong Kong.
The fisherman was very happy.
But his wife was not happy at all. She was very greedy.
The wife always wanted something more.
She wanted a big house and lots of money. She also wanted to be beautiful.
Every day the fisherman went fishing. One day he did not get any fish.
“I’ve been fishing all day, but I have no fish,” sighed the fisherman.
Just then he caught something big! He pulled and pulled and pulled. It was a silvery pink dolphin!
“It’s a dolphin. Now we will have food. My wife will be happy,” said the fisherman.
The dolphin looked at the fisherman with big sad eyes.
“Please, please let me go. You can’t eat me. I’m Phinnie, the Magic Dolphin. Please, please let me go. I will give you one wish.”
The fisherman thought to himself, “I cannot eat Phinnie, the Magic Dolphin. I will let him go.”
The fisherman went home without any catch.
His wife was very angry and said, “You have no fish! Where is my food?”
“I caught Phinnie, the Magic Dolphin, but I let him go,” said the fisherman.
“We can’t eat a magic dolphin. Besides, he gave me one wish.”
“Only one wish!” cried his wife. “I want a big house, I want money, and I want to be beautiful. Go, go and tell Phinnie my wishes.”
The fisherman went to find Phinnie. “Phinnie, Phinnie, where are you? My wife wants a big house,” cried the fisherman.
Phinnie appeared and said, “I will give your wife this one wish.”
When the fisherman went home, he saw a big house. His wife was happy, but she wanted more.
“Where is my money? I want money.”
When the fisherman told Phinnie that his wife wanted money, Phinnie said, “I will give your wife this one wish but no more. She must not be greedy.”
When the fisherman went home, his wife was very happy. She had lots of money. But now she wanted to be beautiful.
The fisherman warned his wife, “You have no more wishes. Phinnie said you must not be greedy.”
But the wife got very angry and said, “I want to be beautiful!”
The fisherman was very sad. He went to find Phinnie again. “Phinnie, Phinnie, where are you?”
Phinnie did not come. Again, the fisherman called, “Phinnie, Phinnie, please come up and talk to me.”
Phinnie did not come. The fisherman heard a voice saying,
The fisherman went home. The house was there. The money was there.
“But where’s my wife?” asked the fisherman.
The fisherman’s wife had been changed into a banyan tree!
To this day, if you go to Ma Wan, you can still see the banyan tree growing out of a rock.
One More Wish is a story from the Phinnie Reading Series about Phinnie, the Magic Dolphin, written by Rosaline L. Fung, © All rights reserved. Duplication of this material is restricted to non-profit purposes in Hong Kong, SAR. The Phinnie logo is a registered trademark of Rosaline L. Fung.