The fisherman was very unhappy. "What an unlucky man I am to have freed you! I implore you to spare my life."

Question

"I have told you," said the genius, "that it is impossible. Choose quickly; you are wasting time."

The fisherman began to devise a plot.

"Since I must die," he said, "before I choose the manner of my death, I conjure you on your honour to tell me if you really were in that vase?"

"Yes, I was," answered the genius.

"I really cannot believe it," said the fisherman. "That vase could not contain one of your feet even, and how could your whole body go in? I cannot believe it unless I see you do the thing."

–“The Story of the Fisherman,”

Andrew Lang

How does the fisherman’s motivation move the plot forward?

The fisherman’s determination to outwit the genii results in the climax.
The fisherman fears dying slowly and asks a question that results in rising action.
The fisherman makes a poorly worded demand, which results in exposition.
The fisherman’s anger at the situation leads him to be fearless, causing the climax.

Answer 1

The most accurate option regarding how the fisherman’s motivation moves the plot forward is:

The fisherman fears dying slowly and asks a question that results in rising action.

In this part of the story, the fisherman's fear of his imminent death leads him to cleverly question the genii about how he could fit into the vase. This not only serves to buy him some time but also introduces rising action as it creates an opportunity for the fisherman to engage the genii further and potentially devise a way to escape his fate.