Fable: A Black Fish with a Cloud’s Heart
In a pond, there lived a little black fish who was very fond of shadows.
The shadows of trees, flowers, and even the shadows of little lambs that came to drink water… he loved them all.
He stayed under a water hyacinth, staring at the shadows. But whenever he swam towards them, the shadows would break apart.
One day, the little black fish saw the shadow of a dark cloud, which looked just like him. The dark cloud floated freely in the sky; its shadow moved happily in the pond.
But soon, the dark cloud turned into raindrops and fell into the pond, disappearing.
The little black fish thought: It must have turned into another little black fish. Perhaps, I was once a cloud too, and one day, I fell into the pond and became a little black fish.
Surely, I was once a cloud, drifting around and enjoying the scenery. From that day on, the little black fish in the pond had a heart like a cloud. He jumped onto the shore, but nearly died from the sun. Using the last of his strength, he returned to the water. His daring leaps couldn’t let him see the outside world.
So—
When the shadow of a tree contained the shadow of a bird, the little black fish asked the bird to take him along, but the bird flew away alone.
When the shadow of a flower contained the shadow of a butterfly, the little black fish asked the butterfly to take him along, but the butterfly also flew away alone.
A lamb came, and beside the lamb’s shadow was the shadow of a girl. The little black fish asked the girl to take him out of the water. He wanted to float around like a cloud and see the outside world.
The girl said, “Fish can’t leave the water for long.”
“What does it matter? Just let me see the outside world,” said the little black fish.
The girl was stunned. She thought of her own upcoming journey, but she was so afraid to leave her familiar surroundings, while this little black fish so longed to travel.
The girl said, “I will remember your wish, dear little black fish.”
The girl left, not taking the little black fish with her. She hoped the little black fish would live happily in the pond.
Many years passed, and the little black fish quietly watched all kinds of shadows in the pond—the shadows of trees, flowers, clouds, lambs… but he never saw that girl again.
The little black fish grew into a big black fish, and he increasingly felt that his entire world could only be the pond. The shadows in the pond would always be just shadows. Whenever he swam towards them, they would break apart.
The big black fish grew older. He still liked to watch shadows, but whenever the shadow of a dark cloud appeared in the pond, the old black fish would hide in the mud. He thought: Another dark cloud is about to turn into a little black fish, and from then on, it will never see the outside world.
One day, the old black fish saw the shadows of two people, one was a mother and the other a small girl.
The old black fish recognized immediately that the mother was the girl from long ago. The old black fish swam over, and the shadow broke apart. The old black fish sadly thought: I must be dreaming, shadows are just shadows. But in the broken shadow, he heard the young mother’s voice: “Child, in this pond lives a little black fish who wished to float around like a cloud and see the outside world.”
As she spoke, the mother took out a stack of photos. She showed them to her daughter one by one: “Child, look, this is the Yangtze River, this is the Yellow River, this is the sea, these are mountains, this is the desert… these are all for the dear little black fish.”
The girl said, “Mom, you’ve been to so many places.”
“Yes, it was a little black fish who told me to bravely go out and see the world.” The young mother said, throwing the photos into the water one by one.
The old black fish saw them, saw many many beautiful places. Ah, the world is so big! The old black fish was so excited he cried, but in the water, tears can’t be seen, they only turned into bubbles.
Then, the old black fish swished his tail and swam around the pond. He stirred the water, breaking all the shadows. His joy rippled through every corner of the pond like a whirlpool.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
