Two Kids Learn a Wise Lesson From a Fishy Tale!

By Niggy Binkles

Ferry and Fanny were two large goldfish who lived in an open-air aquarium located on the ground floor of a big building in a very big city. The building, called as ‘The Bing-Ting Centre’, was a very happening place, where many events, such as musical and dance performances, dramas, book launches, lectures by distinguished people and art and craft exhibitions were held most days in the week.  Many 'big' and 'famous' people, and also several others who were not quite so, came to attend these programmes.  Now, most of time, these busy city folks did not pay attention to Ferry and Fanny, and also the other creatures who lived in the aquarium, which was positioned very close to the entrance of the building. They were more keen to be part of the event they had come for, have a meal at the restaurant there, engage in a little chit-chat, and, for some, to show off their latest outfits, and then go back.

One fine sunny Sunday morning, two children, Dolcy and Chinky, arrived at The Bing-Ting Centre to watch a magic show scheduled to be held there. As they had reached rather early, they strolled around a bit and soon came up to the aquarium.

"Wuppy, Dolcy, just see!  See how cute these two goldfish are, and so plump, too! Let's watch them swim about," said Chinky excitedly.

Ferry and Fanny, the two goldfish, were bright orange in colour and were very beautiful indeed. Along with them in the water were many little fish in different colours.

Fanny was a quiet fellow, who loved nothing more than a good swim, but what Ferry loved best was to talk—gossip, actually! Now that she spotted Chinky and Dolcy peering at her, all she wanted to do was talk and talk and talk!

"Hey kids! My name is Ferry. Would you like to come closer? I’ve got lots of interesting things to tell you," Ferry began, popping her cute and rather large head out of the water, opening her mouth wide and giving the children a wide smile.

Chinky and Dolcy sat down on the chairs nearby and began to listen to Ferry after they had got over the great shock of seeing a fish talk for the first time ever and had done with introducing themselves.

"You know what, kids? I live in this pond here, and every day I see many human folks come and go. The other day, I spotted a girl wearing a short skirt and sandals with high heels that went tik-tok tikkity-tok! Oh how I wish I could dress like that, too!" Ferry said, giving the children a big, naughty wink.

"Don’t be silly, Ferry! If you ever did that, you’d tumble down at once,” Fanny interrupted, shaking his fins this way and that. “We goldfish have never ever worn things like stilettos and skirts!"

But Ferry was not one to stop. She went on and on and on. "You know something, children? From the corner of my beady eyes, I can see the snack café ahead. I can spot human folks munching on yummy-looking biscuits, cake and sandwiches and sipping coffee and fruit shakes. Oooooh! I wish I, too, could do that," Ferry cried, turning her bulbous eyes round and round in large circles.

"Goodness gracious, Ferry! If you munch on those snacks and have those drinks, you’ll get a big tummy upset! And do you know what? These snacks and drinks are very costly, just like goldfish…oops sorry, like gold, I mean", Fanny stated firmly, putting a very wise look on his face.

"Be content and happy with the food we get here Ferry, food that’s specially made for us fish that comes in fancy bottles," Fanny added as he reached out to nibble at some fish-food flakes that were floating about on the surface of the water.

"Oh silly Fanny!” protested Ferry. “You want to live in your comfort fishy zone in this little pond and don't want to go out and see the big, wide world. But as for me, I’d love to escape this tiny puddle of a home that we have right away and go straight to that delightful restaurant over there and check out the menu.”

“Naughty Ferry, don't you ever do that!” Fanny retorted at once. “If you ever jump out of our pond, the human folks you so admire will, in a jiffy, turn you into fish cutlets, which they’ll neatly lay out on a glimmering white plate, along with a bunch of potato chips, to be sold off as an expensive dish, which some hungry human will gobble up in no time! You wouldn’t want that to happen to you, would you? It would be so, so sad!”

“I tell you, be happy where you are, and be thankful for it," Fanny continued, his eyes firmly fixed on Ferry’s. "God has kept you safe and sound in this little pond. See how calm it's here! We have our own little fellow fishy friends for company, water-plants to play hide-and-seek in, and no creatures bigger than us who could scare us."

“Oh dear me, I definitely don’t want to become a fish cutlet and be eaten up by human folks,” Ferry cried out, her eyes going pop-pop-pop in fear. “So, I take back my words this very moment! I don’t ever want to leave our pond. Never, ever!”

Flapping her fins about and rolling her large, black eyes, Ferry gave Fanny a hearty hug, thanking him profusely for his wise advice.

Then, looking up at Dolcy and Chinky (who were most intrigued at the goings-on unfolding before their eyes, never having seen anything like that before), the two goldfish gave the children a big smile while happily swishing their silky, fan-like tails.

“Hey children!” Ferry said, “It’s time now for the magic show that you came for. But as you go, do please remember to be happy where God has kept you, just as the two of us will!”

Chinky and Dolcy waved their little hands, wishing Ferry and Fanny a good sunny day!

“Oh Dolcy, what a lovely thing Ferry and Fanny just taught us! We learnt something very important from them, didn’t’ we?" said Chinky excitedly as the children made their way to the auditorium where the magic show was to be held. 

That's how these two kids learnt a very wise lesson from a very fishy tale that day. And I hope you did so, too!