THERE was once upon a time a fisherman, who lived hard by a
palace and fished for the King's table. One day he was out
fishing, but caught nothing at all. Let him do what he might with
rod and line, there was never even so much as a sprat on his hook;
but when the day was well nigh over, a head rose up out of the
water, and said: `If you will give me what your wife shows you
when you go home, you shall catch fish enough.'

So the man said `Yes' in a moment, and then he caught fish in
plenty; but when he got home at night, and his wife showed him a
baby which had just been born, and fell a-weeping and wailing
when he told her of the promise which he had given, he was very
unhappy.

All this was soon told to the King up at the palace, and when he
heard what sorrow the woman was in, and the reason of it, he said
that he himself would take the child and see if he could not save it.
The baby was a boy, and the King took him at once and brought
him up as his own son until the lad grew up. Then one day he
begged to have leave to go out with his father to fish; he had a
strong desire to do this, he said. The King was very unwilling to
permit it, but at last the lad got leave. He stayed with his father,
and all went prosperously and well with them the whole day, until
they came back to land in the evening. Then the lad found that
he had lost his pocket-handkerchief, and would go out in the boat
after it; but no sooner had he got into the boat than it began to
move off with him so quickly that the water foamed all round about,
and all that the lad did to keep the boat back with the oars was done
to no purpose, for it went on and on the whole night through, and
at last he came to a white strand that lay far, far away. There he
landed, and when he had walked on for some distance he met an
old man with a long white beard.

`What is the name of this country?' said the youth.

`Whiteland,' answered the man, and then he begged the youth
to tell him whence he came and what he was going to do, and the
youth did so.

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