The Third Wish

Imagine you save a struggling swan in a bush. When you finally extricate the swan from the thorny bush, you plop it into the most beautiful river that anyone has ever seen. A couple minutes later, there appears to be a fairly small man dressed in all green with a long beard and a gold crown. Since you saved the astounding swan, the man says that you may accept a reward, and you ask for three wishes; no more or no less. Your first wish is to have a wife as beautiful as the forest. Later on your wish comes true. However, your wife became very unhappy and you figure out that she was the swan that you saved from the bush. You know that she is unhappy because she misses being with her sister as a swan. As caring as you are, you use your second wish to turn her back into a swan even though she wished to stay with you. In the short story “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken, Mr. Peters was a very considerate man.

In “The Third Wish”, the main character is Mr. Peters. Mr. Peters’ first wish was to have a wife as beautiful as the forest. Later on in their marriage, Mr. Peters frequently would find his wife Leita, at the river with another swan which was her sister Rhea. One day Mr. Peters found his wife laying in bed crying her sisters name while asleep; Mr. Peters knew that he had to turn her back into a swan with his second wish he had. Therefore, Mr. Peters turned his wife back into a swan. That action that he made automatically showed what kind of person Mr. Peters was which was a loving, unselfish and very considerate for other people. The man didn’t have to turn his wife back into a swan, and she also wanted to stay with him. After he did, Lieta was happy again. However, she still loved her husband.

Mr. Peters was unselfish and caring. We should all be like Mr. Peters and be willing to give up something very special for something that will be worthwhile.