Teaching Children Sharing: The Rainbow Fish
In the deep blue sea far away, there lived a fish.
This was no ordinary fish; you couldn’t find another one as beautiful in the whole ocean.
Its colorful scales were like a rainbow, blue, green, purple… shimmering brilliantly.
The other fish, enviously wide-eyed, called him the Rainbow Fish.
“Come, Rainbow Fish, come and play with us!”
But the Rainbow Fish wouldn’t even glance at them. He swam away quickly, proudly flashing his scales.
One day, a little blue fish swam up behind him and called out:
“Rainbow Fish, wait for me! Please, can you give me one of your shiny scales? Just one! They are so beautiful. Besides, you have so many.”
“What did you say? Give you one of my unique shiny scales? Don’t be ridiculous!”
The Rainbow Fish exclaimed.
“Get out of my way!”
The little blue fish was startled and quickly swam away.
Not knowing what to do, the little blue fish told his friends about it. After that, no fish would talk to the Rainbow Fish.
Whenever the Rainbow Fish swam by, everyone would turn away.
What was the use of having dazzling shiny scales if no one admired them?
As a result, the Rainbow Fish became the loneliest fish in the sea.
One day, the Rainbow Fish complained to the starfish:
“I’m so beautiful, why doesn’t anyone like me?”
“How would I know,” the starfish said. “But if you swim past the coral reef into a deep cave, you’ll meet the all-knowing octopus grandma. Maybe she can help you.”
The Rainbow Fish found the cave. It was dark inside, and he couldn’t see anything.
In the darkness, two bright eyes suddenly stared at the Rainbow Fish, and then the octopus emerged.
“I’ve been expecting you,” the octopus said in a low voice.
“The waves have told me about you. I suggest you give a piece of your shiny scales to each fish. That way, although you won’t be the most beautiful fish anymore, you will experience what happiness truly is and how to attain it.”
“But…”
The Rainbow Fish wanted to say something more, but the octopus had already vanished into the inky darkness.
Give my scales to them? Give away these shiny scales? What a joke! How could I be happy without my shiny scales?
At that moment, a gentle touch from a fish fin interrupted the Rainbow Fish.
It was the little blue fish again!
“Rainbow Fish, please don’t be mad. Just give me the tiniest shiny scale, that’s all.”
The Rainbow Fish hesitated. He thought, it’s just one tiny, tiny shiny scale, right? Alright, giving away one shouldn’t be a big deal.
Carefully, the Rainbow Fish gave the smallest, tiniest scale to the little blue fish.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Bloop, bloop, bloop…” The little blue fish happily blew a stream of bubbles and stuck the shiny scale among his own blue ones.
A strange feeling filled the Rainbow Fish’s heart.
He gazed long at the little blue fish swimming around with the new shiny scale.
As the little blue fish swam around with the shiny scale, other fish immediately surrounded the Rainbow Fish.
Who wouldn’t want a shiny scale?
The Rainbow Fish gave away one scale after another, feeling happier each time. The water around him sparkled. For some reason, he felt like he was home, very happy with everyone around.
Finally, only one shiny scale was left. The Rainbow Fish had given his most precious possessions to everyone, but he felt truly happy.
“Come, Rainbow Fish, come and play with us!”
Everyone called out.
“Here I come,” said the Rainbow Fish, joyfully swimming toward his friends.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
