Fishy Fishy Fish

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess who loved to wear purple and eat fish. Unfortunately, one day the kingdom ran completely out of fish. The markets didn’t have any, the fish sellers didn’t have any, and even the fishermen couldn’t find any. The princess was horrified. What was she going to eat now? How could she go on without her delicious fish?

             She quickly issued a proclamation stating that anyone who could find more fish would be rewarded with a treasure chest full of his choice of items from the royal treasure room, and would have the honor of eating dinner with the princess. With this reward in mind, many throughout the kingdom immediately set out to discover where more fish could be found. 

            At this time, there was living in the country a small boy who also loved fish. When he heard that the country was out of fish, and that the princess was in distress, and about the generous reward to be given to anyone who could find more fish, he determined to try to find some himself. He went outside and began to think of where he might find some fish hiding.

            First he looked underneath a rock in his backyard. No fish. Next he checked the hole his dog had dug underneath the porch. No fish. He looked behind his favorite climbing tree. No fish. Under a log? No fish. Inside a tree stump? No fish. At the top of the small cliff near his house? No fish.

            By now, his mother was calling him in to dinner. As he sat down to eat his fish-less dinner, he suddenly had an idea. He finished eating as quickly as he could, cleaned up his dishes, grabbed his knife and fork and went outside.

            He started walking into the woods with his silverware, calling out loudly, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            He walked further into the woods, all the while calling, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            He very soon attracted the attention of a rather large bear that decided to come out and see what was going on. As the bear looked on, he saw a small boy, holding a knife and fork, walking through the woods, calling, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!!!”

            “This boy is crazy,” the bear thought to himself. “He’ll never find any fish that way.”

            As the boy continued his relentless fish-calling, the bear became frustrated. “Stop calling out like that! You won’t find any fish that way! I know the only way to find fish around here, and I’m not telling! But you are going about it all wrong!”

            Nevertheless, the boy continued walking, calling out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!!”

            “I told you,” the bear called out again, “that’s not the way to find any fish! You are making a fool of yourself!”

            But the boy didn’t stop. He just kept calling out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!”

            Annoyed, the bear stepped out in front of the boy. “I TOLD YOU, YOU CAN’T FIND ANY FISH THAT WAY! I know the only way to find fish around here, and you are doing it wrong! Stop calling ‘here, fishy, fishy, fish’; I’m tired of it!”

            The boy looked up at the bear with a smile on his face, then turned and called out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            Turning again, the boy said to the bear, “I bet I can find fish this way. And I bet I can find fish faster than you ever can!”

            Now the bear was sure the boy was crazy. But, just to shut him up, he thought he might go along with the boy’s idea. “Okay, we’ll see. You keep doing that, and I’ll find fish my way, and whoever finds some fish first wins. Agree?”

            “Agree! And I WILL find fish first! Good luck!”

            The boy started calling more hurriedly, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!!!” The bear, on seeing this, hurried off in the opposite direction until he came to a rabbit hole.

            “Rabbit, can I have some more fish?”

            A rabbit soon came up out of the hole with a half dozen fish for the bear. The bear took them, and hurried back to the spot where he had talked to the boy.

            “I’m back with the fish,” he called. The boy soon came back and saw the fish in the bear’s paws.

            “I guess you’re right,” the boy admitted, “You do know how to find fish better than I do.”

            “Then you’ll stop that ‘fishy, fishy, fish’ racket?”

            “Yeah, I guess so. I’m sorry if I bothered you.”

            “Just so you don’t do it again!” The bear wandered off to eat his fish in peace.

            As soon as the bear was out of sight, the boy made his way to the very same rabbit hole he had followed the bear to earlier.

            “Rabbit, may I please have some more fish?”

            The rabbit soon popped up with several more fish.

“You have much politer manners than that bear does,” he said. “How much fish would you like?”

            “As much as I can carry, please,” the boy answered. “And thank you so very much! This will make the beautiful princess so happy.”

            “Glad to be able to help you,” the rabbit said as he brought up a large bag of fish from his hole and handed it to the boy. “Enjoy!”

            Thanking the rabbit again, the boy took the bag of fish and hurried to the royal palace. The guards, on seeing the fish in the bag, hurriedly admitted the boy into the palace and into the princess’ chambers. She was ecstatic when she saw the large amount of fish in the bag. She immediately ordered that the fish be taken and prepared for dinner, and that the boy be given royal garments to wear as he joined her for dinner.

            The dinner was very good (you can’t go wrong with two dinners in one day!), and the princess was very good company. She and the boy talked and laughed and discussed their favorite varieties of fish. The boy promised to bring her some more fish soon. As soon as they were done eating, the princess escorted the boy into the royal treasure room. She pointed out a good-sized chest in the corner of the room.

            “Fill it as full as you can with whatever you would like,” she told him. “I’ll have my servants deliver it to your house in my very own royal carriage.”

            The boy looked around at all the jewels, necklaces, gold ornaments, and other treasures. He wasn’t sure what to choose. Finally, though, he started putting in some very pretty jewels, then some gold coins, and then he found he was getting the hang of packing up treasure. When the chest was full, he called the princess, who called her servants, who called for a carriage, and the princess and the boy got into the carriage with the treasure chest and rode all the way to the boy’s house. Once there, the servants unloaded the chest, the boy said goodbye to the princess, and the royal carriage returned home. The boy dragged the chest into the house, tied a bow around it, and gave it to his mother for her birthday.

            She liked it.

 

The End