Once there was a fish
who lived in a vast
and near-endless ocean,
and because the water
was clean and clear,
and always flowed past his nose
when he moved around,
he never knew that he was in the ocean.
Well one day,
the fish did a very curious thing
and began to think:
Surely I am a most remarkable being
since I can move around like so
in all of this empty space,
the fish thought to himself.
Suddenly, the fish began to grow confused
because he started to think
about what parts of its body
it needed to move
in order to continue travelling.
And then he had a scary feeling
and began to wonder
if
it
had
forgotten
how
to move.
At that moment,
he looked down below himself
and saw a great
Y A W N I N G C H A S M
on the ocean floor
and grew terrified
that
he
would
fall
into
it.
But then he thought,
if I could catch my tail in my mouth,
I could hold myself up.
And so he twisted
and curled,
trying really hard
to grab a hold of his tail.
Unfortunately,
he was not quite flexible enough,
so he kept on missing.
Yet he kept on trying
to catch his tail
while watching the
B L A C K
A B Y S S
B E L O W
becoming even more terrible than before, and it made the fish very nervous.
When the fish
was
very
tired
and about to give up,
the Great Ocean,
who had been watching
the little fish swim,
then struggle,
with a mix of pity
and amusement asked,
‘What are you doing?’
‘Oh – who? Me?’ replied the fish
as he looked around
for the source of the voice.
‘I’m scared of falling down
into that deep and dark abyss,
and I’m trying to grab
my tail so that I can hold myself up.’
‘Well, you have been doing that
for a long time now
and you still haven’t fallen down.
How come?’
‘Oh,
well of course
I haven’t fallen down
yet,’
the fish insisted, ‘because…
because…
I’m… ummm…’
‘Swimming?’ said the Great Ocean.
‘Yes, swimming!’ the fish shouted
jubilantly,
but then something else occurred
to the little fish.
‘Who are you?’
‘I am the Great Ocean
in which you live and
move and are able to
be a fish, and I have
given all of myself for
you to swim in, and I
have always supported
you while you swim.
But here you are, instead
of exploring the length,
breadth, depth, and height
of my expanse, you spend
your time pursuing your own
tail.’
The fish thought about
this for some time,
when he realized
he had begun to actually swim again
without thinking about it.
And he put his tail behind him,
where it belonged,
and set out to explore
the Great Ocean freely,
without ever being afraid.
‘Panta rhei, little fish,’
said the Great Ocean,
‘everything flows,
so just keep swimming.
Just keep swimming.’
FIN
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