Once upon a time, in a small seaside fishing village in France, there lived a poor yet hard - working and kind - hearted fisherman. Every day, he would go out to sea to fish very early, hoping to catch more fish to make a living.
One day, the fisherman went out to sea as usual. He cast his net, and when he was pulling it in, it felt extremely heavy. It took him a great deal of effort to get the net onto the boat. To his surprise, instead of fish, there was an ancient and mysterious magic lamp in the net. The lamp looked very shabby and was engraved with strange symbols. Curiously, the fisherman rubbed the lamp. Suddenly, a puff of smoke came out, and a huge genie emerged from the smoke.
The genie said in a deep voice, "I am the genie in the lamp. You are my master, and you can make three wishes. I can help you fulfill any wish." The fisherman was both astonished and delighted, but he was a very cautious man, so he didn't make a wish right away.
After thinking for a while, the fisherman said, "My first wish is that I hope my small fishing boat can be turned into a large and sturdy fishing boat, so that I can go to farther sea areas to fish." The genie nodded, and then a flash of light appeared. In an instant, the fisherman's small boat became a brand - new large ship. The fisherman was extremely happy and drove the large ship towards the deep sea.
With the help of the large ship, the fisherman caught a great number of fish, and his life became prosperous. However, he didn't forget his fellow villagers. He distributed the extra fish to the poor families in the village.
After a while, the fisherman decided to make his second wish.
He said to the genie, "I hope there can be a school in my village, so that the children in the village can read and write." The genie cast his magic again, and soon, a beautiful school appeared in the village. The children all cheered and rushed into the school to start learning knowledge. Looking at the happy children, the fisherman was also full of joy in his heart.
As time passed, the fisherman's life got better and better. However, his wife began to become greedy. She always told the fisherman that they should have more wealth and should live in a bigger house. At first, the fisherman didn't care, but his wife nagged at him every day. Finally, the fisherman couldn't bear it any more and decided to make his third wish.
The fisherman said to the magic lamp, "I hope I can have a huge castle filled with gold and silver treasures." The genie frowned when he heard this wish, but still fulfilled it for him. The fisherman and his wife moved into the castle, and the castle was full of glittering gold and silver treasures everywhere.
But soon they found that in the huge castle, there were only the two of them, which made it extremely desolate. Moreover, they were always worried that someone would come to steal their treasures. They were no longer as happy as before and lived in worry every day. The fisherman began to regret making this wish, and he realized that although his previous life was simple, it was full of happiness and warmth.
This story tells children that we should know how to be content. When making a wish or pursuing something, we must think carefully and not be blinded by greed.
