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"Again and again she reached. Each time, the strength of her determination brought the land a little closer. Until at last she felt the earth beneath her feet. A few more steps brought her out of the water. And with her, the fisherman, for it was his hand she held fast in her own. Together, they collapsed to the sand, and as they did so, the storm ended as abruptly as it had begun, and the sun shone down upon them, bright and strong.
'"Thank you,' the fisherman said as soon as he was able. 'If not for your courage, my life would have been lost.'
'"Oh, surely not,' the water bearers daughter answered. 'For you are . . . '
"But here, a strange thing happened. Without warning, a great heaviness seized the water bearer's daughter in all her limbs, as if every step of her long journey had suddenly come to inhabit her body all at the same moment. Her vision darkened until she could not see the fisherman clearly, though he lay beside her. She blinked her eyes once, twice. The third time, her lids stayed closed, and she remembered nothing more.
"She awoke to a warm darkness. She pulled in a breath and found the air scented with smoke from a driftwood fire. She stirred and realized she was covered in a scratchy blanket from feet to chin.
"So you're awake at last,' the voice of the fisherman said. ‘That is good, for I feared I might have lost you.'
'"I am not lost,' the water bearer's daughter replied. And with this, she sat up and looked around her.
"She was in a small cottage made of wood, its roof thatched with the reeds that grew out of the great dunes bordering the ocean. There was a hole in the roof, and through it drifted the driftwood smoke.
Though another might have considered it small and poor, the water bearer's daughter could see that the cottage had been well kept, much like the home she shared with her father. And so she felt not scornful or afraid to awaken in a place she did not know, but comfortable and at home.
"Over a pot above the fire, the fisherman stirred something that made the water bearer's daughter's mouth water.
'"What are you making?' she inquired.
"'Seaweed soup,' the fisherman answered. 'It will help to make you strong once more.' So saying, he filled a bowl. As he leaned over the fire, its light played over his features, and the water bearer's daughter felt her breath catch as she beheld him clearly for the very first time.
"Never had she seen a man so ugly.
"His face was lined as if creased by the wind, pitted as if scarred by the salt in the seawater. With his gaze downcast, the water bearer's daughter could not see the color of his eyes. His hands were as wide across as one of her legs. But they cradled her bowl of soup as gently as if it were a bird's nest filled with hatchlings.
"There is kindness in him, she thought.
"And so, though her heart beat a little faster at his approach, she took the bowl of soup from him without spilling a drop, for her hands did not tremble. And she said to him, 'I thank you for your kindness.'
"At her words, the fisherman started. 'You are the first who has ever seen it,' he said, and he smiled.
When he did this, the water bearer's daughter discovered that it was possible to forget his great ugliness, for his kindness was the only thing she saw.
'"Eat your soup,' he said. 'Then, if you are not too weary, tell me how you have come to be in this place, for I think that you are far from home.'
'"I am, indeed,' the water bearer's daughter said, though this cottage reminds me of it.'
"At this, though he did not speak, the fisherman smiled once more. The water bearer’s daughter ate her soup, then told him of all that had lately befallen her.
'"I have heard of this treasure you seek,' the fisherman said when her tale was done. 'It may be that I can even show you where it lies. But seeking is not the same as finding. Many have come before you, and all have failed.'
"'I will not fail,' the water bearer's daughter answered firmly. 'I will succeed, for I must save my father.'
'"In the morning, we shall see,' the fisherman said. 'Sleep, now.' So saying, he took her empty bowl from her, then tucked her in once more. The water bearer's daughter was asleep by the time the blanket reached her chin.
"In the middle of the night, she awoke to find the fire had died down low. The fisherman sat beside it, weaving a great net, his eyes glowing bright as the coals.
"In the morning, her strength restored, the water bearer's daughter followed the fisherman down to the water. There they climbed into his boat, and the fisherman plied the oars. Today the sea was as smooth as honey. When they reached a spot in the ocean that looked the same as any other to the water bearer's daughter, the fisherman lifted the oars from the water.
'"The treasure that you seek is down below us. To find it, you must dive to the bottom.'
"Though she had never done such a thing before, the water bearers daughter rose. 'Then that is what I will do,’ she vowed.
'"Keep your head down,’ the fisherman advised. 'Reach with your arms for the bottom.'
'"I will,’ the water bearer's daughter said, and with no more ado, she dove over the side.
"Down, down, down she went, through water so smooth it felt like silk, always keeping her head aimed downward and reaching with her arms for the bottom. Her heartbeats began to pound in her ears. Then at last, she saw what she was searching for. The sand at the bottom of the ocean was white and pure as milk, but whiter still were the bones resting on top of it.
"These are the ones who came before me and failed, the water bearer's daughter thought. Scattered among the bones was a treasure such as she had never dreamed of: Jewels of every size and shape. Gold coins too numerous to count. Surely something here would ransom her father. The question was, what?
"Just when the water bearer's daughter thought her breath would last no longer, she caught a dazzle from the corner of her eye. A ruby, big as her fist, nestled in the right eye socket of a half-buried skull. She snatched it up, then shot toward the surface, breaking through the water at the last possible moment, desperately pulling breath into her lungs. She felt the fisherman reach down and lift her up into the boat.
"'Well?' he said after giving her a chance to catch her breath. 'What have you found?"
"The water bearers daughter opened her hand to reveal the ruby. To her horror and dismay, the fisherman snatched it from her and heaved it back into the ocean.
"'You will not save your father with that,' he said. You must try again tomorrow.'
"With that, he spoke not another word, but rowed them back to shore. That night, much was as it had been the night before. The water beater's daughter awakened just once, in the dead of night. She saw the fisherman sitting by the fire, weaving a great net by the fireside, his eyes glowing bright as the coals.
"Now began a series of days when the exact same thing happened. The fisherman fished while the water bearer's daughter dove. But each time she retrieved what she hoped was the treasure she sought, the fisherman would declare it useless and throw it back into the sea once more.
"As the days passed, the water bearer's daughter grew more and more desperate. The rich jewels adorning the bottom of the ocean began to lose their shine. Though they might be valuable, they were not precious. And within the water bearer's daughter's heart was a growing certainty that the only thing that could ransom her father was a treasure beyond price. But she did not yet see what it was.