diamonds; she wore a golden crown, and carried in one hand a sceptre of pure gold. On each side of her stood her ladies in a long row, every one a head shorter than the next.
He stood before her, and said: ‘Alas, Wife, art thou now King?’
‘Yes,’ she said; ‘now I am King.’
He stood looking at her for some time, and then he said: ‘Ah, Wife, it is a fine thing for thee to be King; now we will not wish to be anything more.’
‘Nay, husband,’ she answered, quite uneasily; ‘I find the time hang very heavy on my hands. I can’t bear it any longer. Go back to the Flounder. King I am, but I must also be Emperor.’
‘Alas, Wife,’ said the Man, ‘why dost thou now want to be Emperor?’
‘Husband,’ she answered, ‘go to the Flounder. Emperor I will be.’
‘Alas, Wife,’ said the Man, ‘Emperor he can’t make thee, and I won’t ask him. There is only one Emperor in the country; and Emperor the Flounder cannot make thee, that he can’t.’
‘What?’ said the Woman. ‘I am King, and thou art but my husband. To him thou must go, and that right quickly. If he can make a King, he can also make an Emperor. Emperor I will be, so go quickly.’
He had to go, but he was quite frightened. And as he went, he thought, ‘This won’t end well; Emperor is too shameless. The Flounder will make an end of the whole thing.’
With that he came to the sea, but now he found it quite black, and heaving up from below in great waves. It tossed to and fro, and a sharp wind blew over it, and the man trembled. So he stood there, and said—
Prythee, hearken unto me:
My Wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will,
And sends me to beg a boon of thee.’
