The Third Wish is a play based on the fairy tale structure where a character is granted three wishes, and things wind up going very wrong. In this delightful twist of a three-wish tale, Mr. Peters saves the Forest King, who happens to be in the form of a swan, and is granted wishes as a reward.
Plot Diagram for The Third Wish by Joan Aiken Summary
Storyboard Text
EXPOSITION
Three wishes, he wants, the clever man. Well, I have yet to hear of the human being who made any good use of his three wishes, they mostly end up worse off than when they started. Don't blame me if you spend the last wish in undoing the work of the other two.
I expect three wishes, no more and no less.
CONFLICT
RISING ACTION
Are you the wife that I wished for?
Yes I am. My name is Leita.
I wish I had a wife as beautiful as the forest!
Mr. Peters is driving along when he hears a ruckus. He stops and sees an entangled swan and frees it. The swan is actually the Forest King. Mr. Peters demands three wishes as a reward for saving the King.
CLIMAX
It's clear, I know what I need to do...
Rhea! Rhea! I can't understand you! Oh, wait for me, take me with you!
Mr. Peters must decide what to wish for when he uses his three wishes. He does not know whether to use the wishes on himself, or for his loved ones.
FALLING ACTION
Mr. Peters takes one of his leaf wishes, carefully wishes for a beautiful wife, and then goes to sleep in the woods. When he awakes, his bride-to-be is waiting there for him.
RESOLUTION
Mr. Peters and Leita live happily for years, but Leita grows more and more sad. She tells Mr. Peters that she used to be a swan, and she is so sad because she misses her sister desperately. Mr. Peters knows what he must do: he decides on a second wish.
Mr. Peters blows the second leaf into the air, sadly. Instantly, Leita is a swan again. Mr. Peters, Leita, and her swan sister visit together often. They are known by all in town to be able to communicate with one another.
He stooped down and kissed her goodbye, then took another leaf from his notecase, blew it out the window, and used up his second wish. Next moment, instead of Leita, there was a sleeping swan lying across the bed.
Mr. Peters grows old, never using his last wish, and always being faithful to Leita. On the night he dies, the sad, forlorn song of two swans can be heard, mournfully singing all through the night.