If the king should catch him and have him served to the queen, she would be with child.
The peasant's son went himself on the sea; the pike jumped high out of the water and tore twice all three nets (symbol for the hymen?), until the fellow, for the third time, had repaired the nets with his belt and his silk neckerchief and then caught the fish.
The royal cook cleaned the fish and poured the dishwater out of the window, a cow going by licked it up. The servant who brought the cooked pike to the queen to eat, on the way broke off a piece of the fin and tasted it. All three now became with child at the same time: cow, maid, and queen. All three sons were alike as to hair and grew in hours as much as others in years. They were named Ivan Zarevitsch, Ivan Maidson, and Ivan Cowson—Storm Knight. Ivan Cowson, corresponding to the rule of fairy tales, was the strongest of the three and the hero of the following Herculean adventures, which brought him the nickname of "Storm Knight." The remaining pretty clear sexual symbolism is worthy of note. The substitution of the impotent king by the peasant's son, who gets the receipt for catching the wonderful fish from a witch, in whom one can easily see the personification of the sudden, brilliant notion during his meditation; further the fellow needs his belt to effect the catch.
The fairy tale: "The Godmother's Curse" ("Isländ. Volksmärchen," p. 68, No. 17) present a similar symbolism.
A young childless duchess, who longed very much for a child, went once for a walk, with her servant, in a beautiful grove. Here she was overcome by sleep, and being unable longer to resist it, lay down to rest. In a dream, three women dressed in blue appeared to her and said: "We know your wish and we would like to help you in its fulfillment. Go to a brook here in the neighborhood in which you will see a trout. Bend down and see that in drinking the trout swims into your mouth. Then you will soon after become pregnant. We will search later for the newborn child and give him a name." The queen followed these instructions and was brought to bed with a beautiful little daughter.
An old woman, who rendered service at the birth, prepared the table for only two of the women instead of for all three; on which account the youngest was angry. The two oldest gave the
