第 1 頁
從前從前，木匠之子路易特出門去捕魚。
他和鎮上的孩子們在海邊待了一整天，一次又一次地將釣線拋向海面，然而卻連一條魚都沒有釣上來。
「我好餓啊！」男孩嘆了口氣。「我絕不能就這樣空手而歸！」
他餓得前胸貼後背、雙腿發軟。就在晚霞將天際染成一片緋紅之時，一隻惡魔忽然現身在他面前。「將你自己獻於我，」惡魔開口說道，「我便賜予你享用不盡的鮮魚！」
然而，路易特早已識破了惡魔的詭計。
「休想！」他喊道。「你一定會把我變成鯊魚、飛鳥，或是什麼深海怪物！我知道你們這些惡魔最擅長用花言巧語欺騙別人！」
惡魔聞言哈哈大笑，「說得沒錯，小漁夫！不過總有一天，你會餓到顧不了那麼多，到了那時，我開出的條件可就沒這麼慷慨了。」
話音剛落，惡魔便消失無蹤，只留下男孩獨自站在海灘上。
夜幕降臨，滿天星斗點綴著夜空，孩子們個個垂頭喪氣，捂著空蕩蕩的肚子，陸續踏上了返家的路。「但我真的好餓，」男孩哀聲嘆道。「我絕不能就這樣空手而歸！」
英文原文
Once upon a time, Luyt the carpenter's son went to catch a fish.
All day long he stood by the sea with the other boys from the town, casting his line, but nothing bit.
"I'm so hungry!" sighed the boy. "I can't go home with nothing!"
His stomach growled and his legs grew weak, but as the sky turned to crimson sunset, a demon appeared. "Give yourself to me," the creature said, "and I will give you all the fish you can eat!"
But Luyt knew the demon's tricksy ways.
"No!" he said. "You'll turn me into a shark or bird or some creature of the deep! I know how devils like you like to lie with your promises!"
At this the demon laughed and said, "Very true, young fisherman! But one day, you'll be so hungry you won't care, and then my offer won't be so kind."
With that the demon vanished, leaving the boy on the beach.
The sun set, and the stars sprinkled the sky, and the other children went home, stomachs empty and eyes sad. "But I'm so hungry," lamented the boy. "I can't go home with nothing!"
第 2 頁
這時，月色之中出現了一隻貓頭鷹，對著男孩勸道：「回家吧，回家吧！魚兒早被吃光了，快回家吧！」
路易特卻氣沖沖地驅趕著貓頭鷹，大喊：「你懂什麼！我從黎明一直等到黃昏，又從黃昏熬到深夜！我怎麼能就此放棄！」
「回家吧，回家吧。」貓頭鷹咕咕地叫著，但男孩依舊不肯走。
終於，連最後一絲月光也消失了。就當海灘上只剩路易特一人之際，一隻長著觸手與鳥喙的怪物緩緩從深海中爬出。「是我喲，是我喲，」怪物垂涎著說，「是我把魚吃掉的喲。」
「原來是你！」男孩暴跳如雷。「你太過分了吧？怎麼可以把魚吃光光，一條都沒留給我？」
「啊，」章魚怪說道，「其實我一點也不愛吃魚。我更喜歡吃那些傻傻守著晚餐、苦苦等待卻一無所獲的小男孩！」
說完，章魚怪便猛然躍出海面，用恐怖的觸手死死纏住男孩。伴隨著喀喀的笑聲，牠拖著自己的晚餐沉入無底的深淵。
英文原文
Then, out of the moonlight, an owl appeared, and said to the boy: "Go home, go home! Something else has eaten the fish, go home!"
But Luyt was angry, and shooed the owl away and shouted, "How can you say this? I have stood here all day, from dawn to dusk and cruel midnight, I will not leave now!"
"Go home, go home," cooed the owl, but the boy remained.
At last, when even the moon was gone Luyt was quite alone on the beach, a monster of tentacle and beak slithered up from the depth. "It was me, it was me," the creature drooled, "I ate the fish."
"You!" raged the boy. "How could you do it? How could you eat all the fish and leave none for me?"
"Ah," said the octopus, "But I did not want to eat the fish. I far prefer the taste of foolish little boys who wait too long for the meal that will never come!"
With this the octopus leapt from the water, wrapping the boy in its dreadful tentacles, and with a clacking laugh, dragged its supper down into the bottomless deep.