One day, a poor fisherman catches a small golden fish. He asks the fisherman to release him, promising to fulfill all his wishes. But the old man takes pity on him and gives him back his freedom without asking anything. Back home, the fisherman recounts his adventure to his wife, who forces him to return to the river to ask the goldfish for a new laundry tub. So he goes to the river again and the fish grants him the laundry tub. The woman is however not satisfied and asks her husband for a house, a title of nobility and finally that of tsarina. But she always wants more, and while now despising her husband, she demands to become the queen of the waters and to have the golden fish in her service. She ends up losing everything, the little golden fish takes back all her gifts