Their source was the German painter Philipp Otto Runge (1777–1810), from whom the Grimms obtained a manuscript of the tale in 1809.

One day the fisherman catches a fish who claims to be able to grant wishes and begs to be set free.

[1] French author Edouard Laboulaye published a literary reworking of an Estonian tale titled The Fairy Crawfish.

The Icelandic folktale variant "My Old Woman Must be Paid" features an elf named Kidhus who had a reputation for thievery among the local human population.

When he stole a golden ball used by a fisherman's wife as a spindle whorl, her husband demanded that Kidhus give him an object of equal value as compensation (which he granted).

Kidhus granted their request but when the fisherman and his wife climbed the ladder they lost their balance and fell to their deaths.

Virginia Woolf has her character Mrs. Ramsay in To the Lighthouse read a version of the story to her son, James.

Günter Grass's 1977 novel, The Flounder, is loosely based on the fairy tale, as are Emanuele Luzzati's version, Punch and the Magic Fish, and Ursula LeGuin's novel The Lathe of Heaven.

[citation needed] A short cartoon based on this story was part of the American animated television series, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

In 1997, the story was given a Spanish-flavored adaptation on the animated TV series, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.

Lastly he wishes to be "a regular-sized king in a stone castle with a ferocious fire-breathing monster that he can defeat," but Pumbaa gets the message wrong and says "can't" instead of "can."